Skip to main content

Belarus | Father who tortured and starved three-year-old son to death gets death penalty

A wealthy father who tortured and starved his three-year-old son to death and made his short life 'pure hell' will be executed with a bullet to the head in Belarus
.

Alexander Taratuta, 48, has been sentenced to death for the brutal torture and murder of his son Semyon. 

He will be shot in the back of the head in Belarus, the only country in Europe to carry out capital punishment.  

His wife Anastasia Taratuta, 37, was sentenced to 25 years in a strict regime penal colony for the murder of Semyon.

The death penalty - by a state executioner - is not allowed for women in Belarus.

Both 'calmly listened to their sentences' while handcuffed in a glass court cage, reported Sputnik media.

Alexander constantly looked away from the camera as a judge handed down the verdict, while Anastasia was seen holding her hands over her face in the dock as her husband was condemned to death.

A court was told how the 'wealthy' couple inflicted a life of 'pure hell' on the boy.

Little Semyon was forced to sleep on bare linoleum and was often numb from the cold at their privately-owned home in Slutsk, 65 miles south of capital Minsk.

His mother - a Russian citizen - regularly punched Semyon in the face, and threw him at her husband or at the wall. She also dropped him into the bath.

The three-year-old was tied to a table leg, and at other times, his hands were tethered and food was dangled in front of his face.

Seymon was starved over a long period, weighing only 15lbs at the age of three when he died.

A picture on his gravestone shows the boy with an injured nose from a wound inflicted by his parents.

'His parents, instead of watching over him, simply insulted, humiliated and beat him,' said one court report.

Alexander denied cruelty, claiming he wanted to 'educate' his son.

As 'punishment' for soiling the floor the terrified boy was put in the bath and objects were thrown at him.

Seymon eventually died on January 4 this year after the father kicked him on the head 'to make him sit on the floor'. The child fell 'showing no signs of life'.

A post mortem found Semyon had eight other serious wounds inflicted by his parents.

A paramedic doctor who confirmed Semyon's death, said: 'The boy was very thin, like a skeleton, covered in skin, looking like an African child with a big belly.

'There was an abrasion on his head and a piece of hair was missing.'

The child's eye socket was 'torn almost to the temple'.

The couple had two more children together, both daughters, now aged four and one, and Anastasia had custody of the elder of two sons, 14 and 12, from a previous relationship.

All are now in care and formal legal procedures are underway to deprive the couple of their parental rights.

Anastasia has two older children, but the horrific child abuse was reserved for Semyon.

Social services chief Galina Shaduro said the family was 'wealthy'.

Both parents saw their elder daughter as a 'princess', while the youngest was also doted on.

After Semyon died, mother Anastasia went to a shop and bought lollipops for her two other young children.

The Belarus general prosecutor said the couple were motivated by 'personal hostility' against the boy. They aimed to kill him, said the prosecutor.

'On the basis of personal hostility towards their obviously young son Semyon, with the aim of murder, they struck him in the presence of his younger brother with and hands and feet at least nine times, seven of which were to the head.

'The defendants were aware that by inflicting multiple blows on the boy with significant force, including with booted feet, on the head, torso and limbs, they were causing his son prolonged physical pain, special torture and suffering.'

In his 'last word' to the court, Alexander, a Belarus citizen who earlier worked at a clothing factory, said he regretted that his life 'turned out this way'.

Alexander said he 'felt sorry that the last strike' on his son was 'too strong'.

'There were no intentions, no conspiracies. I didn't want to kill, there were no such thoughts,' he said.

His wife was condemned in one court report as a 'cheap actress who pretended to be a heartbroken mother during the final court session'.

She had written a final speech to the court but refused to read it.

He can appeal his sentence from Death Row, and seek a pardon from Belarus dictator Alexander Lukashenko.

But such moves seldom change count decisions on executions.

Those facing the death penalty are blindfolded and forced to kneel before being shot in the back of the head.

The method is similar to that used in Stalin times in the USSR.

Source: Mail Online, Will Stewart, October 20, 2023


_____________________________________________________________________

Home  |  Twitter/X  |  Facebook  |  Telegram  | Contact us






"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde

Most viewed (Last 7 days)

Gov. Mike DeWine calls for Ohio to abolish the death penalty

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Gov. Mike DeWine Tuesday morning called on Ohio to abolish the death penalty, citing data that he said proves it is no longer a deterrent to violent crime. “For the state to take a human life, there must, in my opinion, there must be evidence that in doing so it will help protect the public, that the threat of that action will deter someone from committing murder,” DeWine said. “I do not believe that argument today can be successfully made.” DeWine cited data showing a decline in the last four decades of executions being carried out and an increase in the time inmates spend on death row.

I watched Ohio's last execution. Here's what it was like

As Gov. DeWine calls for Ohio to end capital punishment, the state’s last execution remains the one I witnessed in 2018 Inside Ohio's death house, there is a room for executions and separate witness rooms: one for those connected to the victim and another for those connected to the inmate. Windows separate the death chamber from those watching, the condemned from the living. I was there on July 18, 2018 – during Ohio’s most recent execution. Robert Van Hook was put to death that day for killing David Self in 1985. He sat on death row for three decades. I was one of three media witnesses to the execution.

Kansas AG urges governor to deny clemency to 8 sentenced to death

TOPEKA — Attorney General Kris Kobach on Tuesday urged the governor to deny clemency to Kansas inmates who have been sentenced to death. Eight of nine people sentenced to death in Kansas formally filed clemency requests in May, according to a press release from the Attorney General’s Office. Kobach urged Gov. Laura Kelly to reject them.

20 Minutes to Death: Witness to the Last Execution in France

The following document is a firsthand account of the final moments of Hamida Djandoubi, a convicted murderer executed by guillotine at Marseille’s Baumettes Prison on September 10, 1977. The record—dated September 9—was written by Monique Mabelly, a judge appointed by the state to witness the proceedings. Djandoubi’s execution would ultimately be the last carried out in France before capital punishment was abolished in 1981. At the time, President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing—who had publicly voiced his "deep aversion to the death penalty" prior to his election—rejected Djandoubi’s appeal for clemency. Choosing to let "justice take its course," the President allowed the execution to proceed, just as he had in two previous cases during his term:   Christian Ranucci , executed on July 28, 1976 and Jérôme Carrein , executed on June 23, 1977. Hamida Djandoubi , a Tunisian national, was sentenced to death for killing his former lover, Elisabeth Bousquet. He was execu...

New Mississippi billboard warns criminals: ‘Firing squad is legal’

DESOTO COUNTY, Miss. (WREG) — A billboard standing on Interstate 55 southbound as you cross the Tennessee state line and enter Mississippi from Memphis is sending a grim message to those coming into the state. DeSoto County District Attorney Matthew Barton recently announced the new billboard campaign, which features the sign reading, “WELCOME TO MISSISSIPPI. WHERE THE FIRING SQUAD IS LEGAL. THINK TWICE.” It references Mississippi’s law permitting execution by firing squad under certain circumstances for inmates sentenced to death. Barton says this campaign is aimed at deterring violent crime and sends a direct message to criminals entering Mississippi.

SCOTUS: Alabama can’t execute Jeffery Lee by nitrogen; Thursday execution called off

After a week of legal volleyball, Alabama death row inmate Jeffery Lee’s execution—scheduled for Thursday evening—was called off after federal courts called the state’s nitrogen gas execution method “likely unconstitutional.” The state took the fight to the U.S. Supreme Court, hoping Lee could still be put to death tonight.  In an order issued at 8:10 p.m., the U.S. Supreme Court ordered that it would not lift a ban on Alabama executing Lee via nitrogen . In a short court order, the justices denied Alabama’s motion to go ahead with the execution.  Associate Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch would have granted the appeal and let the execution proceed, according to the order. 

With nitrogen gas blocked, Alabama seeks to execute inmate by lethal injection

Jeffery Lee, who successfully challenged his scheduled Thursday execution by nitrogen gas, argued that execution by firing squad would be less painful. The Alabama Attorney General’s Office Friday sought to put an Alabama death row inmate to death by lethal injection a day after the U.S. Supreme Court rebuffed the state’s attempt to execute him by nitrogen gas. In a filing with the Alabama Supreme Court Friday afternoon, the state sought an expedited motion to set a new execution date for Jeffery Lee, 49. The state said that with a permanent injunction in place against nitrogen gas, the method by which the state intended to execute Lee on Thursday, it could execute him by lethal injection or the electric chair.

Alabama | Judge bars nitrogen gas execution, says method is unconstitutionally cruel

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- A federal judge on Tuesday permanently blocked Alabama from executing an inmate with nitrogen gas after declaring it violates the ban on cruel and unusual punishment. U.S. District Judge Emily Marks issued the ruling hours after an appeals court reversed her initial finding that the method was constitutional. Marks permanently enjoined the state from executing Jeffrey Lee, 49, by nitrogen gas. He was scheduled to be executed Thursday. The decision, for now, blocks the use of the controversial new execution method that the state has championed since 2024, but the issue will likely end up before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Idaho will soon turn to firing squad executions. Police will pull the triggers

Trained members of Idaho law enforcement with demonstrated firearms proficiency are expected to fill slots for carrying out the death penalty by firing squad as the state prison system transitions to the controversial execution method next month.  Six volunteers certified for no less than three years apiece through Peace Officer Standards and Training, or POST, will be recruited to ensure the Idaho Department of Correction is ready to comply with a state law that prioritizes shooting prisoners to death over lethal injection starting July 1.  No one on the team may have faced disciplinary action over firearms, use of force, or related conduct over the prior year, according to new execution protocols the prison system released this week. 

Thomas, Alito and Gorsuch wanted an execution that a Trump judge deemed illegal

The Supreme Court these days is generally in the business of helping executions go forward. But on Thursday night, the court did something notable: It told Alabama no. Even then, the court wasn't unanimous. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch dissented from the refusal to let the nitrogen gas execution of Jeffery Lee proceed. What prompted the rare rejection? In line with the typical shadow docket practice, the court didn't explain itself. Nor did the dissenters, who merely noted their disagreement. But a deeper look at the case helps us understand why a majority of the court was unwilling to help the state this time.