Strasbourg, 8 December 2011 - “While firmly condemning the bombing of the Minsk Metro on 11 April and deploring the numerous deaths and injuries caused by this terrorist attack, the Committee of Ministers deeply regrets the sentencing to death of Dzmitry Kanavalaw and Uladzislaw Kavalyow on 30 November. Justice will not be achieved through the death of further human beings.

The Committee of Ministers calls on the authorities of Belarus to commute these sentences and reiterates its appeal to establish a formal moratorium with a view to abolition of the death penalty.

The creation of a death-penalty free zone in Europe is a powerful contribution to the ongoing global efforts at the UN level to this end.”