President has the final say

His life was hanging by a thread — the sentence of an exceptional measure of punishment could be carried out at any moment. Rico Krieger, a German terrorist and spy of the Ukrainian special services, was convicted under six articles of Belarus’ Criminal Code, and his guilt was fully proven. That is what the court decided. The German did not appeal the verdict or deny the obvious. Krieger now thanks heaven that he, by sheer chance, did not kill anyone... And that the only person in the whole world who, as it turned out, was concerned about him is the President of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko, to whom he appealed for pardon.

BELTA

This high-profile event has stirred up the information field in Belarus. German national Rico Krieger came to our country with the intent to leave a bloody trail. In his criminal case, he was charged under six serious articles, the most terrible crime being the organisation of a railway explosion. It was only by a lucky turn of events that the conceived terrorist attack did not result in human casualties. The court delivered a verdict — the death penalty. Krieger submitted a clemency petition to the President. Prior to making a decision, Aleksandr Lukashenko invited experts deeply immersed in the subject to the Palace of Independence for discussions. The meeting was attended by State Security Committee (KGB) Chairman Ivan Tertel, Deputy Head of the Belarus President Administration Olga Chupris, the investigator in the case, Deputy Head of the KGB Investigation Department Aleksandr Grib, lawyer Vladimir Gorbach and journalist Lyudmila Gladkaya, who covered the trial. During the conversation, the Head of State outlined, 

“This is an extremely unpleasant topic for the President, but it needs very serious consideration. Rico Krieger is a German citizen. It turns out that he was born only in 1993. He was sentenced to an exceptional measure of punishment by a Belarusian court. According to our Constitution and laws, the President always has the final say. 

I have already said that the most difficult thing in the President’s life is to deal with cases related to capital punishment. But the decision has to be made. I just want to consult with you in this regard and hear your opinion.” 

‘The verdict is fair, but you feel sorry for the criminal in a humane way’

Among those invited to join the discussions was our colleague, journalist of the Belarus Segodnya Publishing House Lyudmila Gladkaya, who has covered the trial from the very beginning and knows the case materials well. After attending the meeting with President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko, Lyudmila talked to media representatives and said that the German authorities simply abandoned their citizen and might be even interested in having the sentence carried out. Lyudmila Gladkaya shared how, just a few minutes after the death sentence had been pronounced, German diplomats who came out of the courtroom hugged and smiled. “They were patting each other on the shoulder, smiling — it was strange to me. I was thinking: a citizen of your country has just been sentenced to death (even if we do not take into account what he has committed), and you have smiles… I also got the impression that these people maybe really do not care, since now we do not see any actions or hear any statements from the German authorities. So they have abandoned a citizen of their country,” the journalist said. “Anyway, no matter what crimes a person has committed, he is a citizen of your country. As it seems to me, it is your duty to at least try to help him in some way, somehow contact him, at least do something for him. There was nothing of that here. I even caught myself thinking that maybe they want the death sentence to be carried out,” noted Lyudmila Gladkaya. She stated that there was no one to protect this person now. “So here he is in Belarus, appealing to the President for pardon. He understands that it is pointless to appeal to his authorities,” the journalist underscored. “It does not matter if he is a German citizen, what he did. Our President tries to thoroughly study any situation.”

President of Belarus has pardoned German citizen Krieger

Taking into account all the circumstances, the Head of State has decided to pardon German citizen Rico Krieger, as reported by the press service of the Belarusian leader.
When the convict was informed of the decision of the President of Belarus, his reaction suggested that he was prepared to hear the opposite. Yet, he got a second chance, his life was saved. This news caused tears, halting speech, hysteria and endless words of gratitude to Aleksandr Lukashenko, “Thank you, thank you, Mr. Lukashenko,” German citizen Rico Krieger muttered through tears. “Thank you for forgiving me. I prayed for it. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to see my daughter. Thank you very much... My hands are shaking. This is the best moment of my life. Thank you very much.”   German national Rico Krieger, sentenced to death for a terrorist attack in Belarus                  

Russia and the West have swapped prisoners

Eight Russians who served sentences or were arrested in NATO member countries have returned to Russia, whereas convicted foreign citizens and Russians associated with Western intelligence services pardoned by the President of the Russian Federation have left Russia. The exchange of prisoners from Russia, the USA, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway and Belarus took place in Ankara.
One of the participants in the exchange was German citizen Rico Krieger recruited by the Ukrainian special services, who was sentenced to death for terrorism in Belarus. The President of the Republic of Belarus pardoned him, which allowed the German to return to his homeland. The Kremlin has expressed gratitude to Aleksandr Lukashenko.  

Aleksandr Lukashenko and Vladimir Putin talked over phone

The presidents of Belarus and Russia, Aleksandr Lukashenko and Vladimir Putin, had a telephone conversation, sb.by reports with reference to the Head of State’s press service. The Russian leader called his Belarusian counterpart to review the working issues that were discussed during their recent meeting on Valaam.
Vladimir Putin cordially thanked Aleksandr Lukashenko for his participation and assistance in the process of the prisoner swap that had taken place the day before.

The large-scale prisoner swap between the countries is the result of long-standing talks — Natalya Eismont, press secretary of Belarus’ President, told RT 

“The main thing is that such negotiations never go public, they require silence. The basis of these negotiations is the absence of publicity. In this regard, there were certain agreements, and we adhere to these agreements,” Natalya Eismont stressed.

Russia highly appreciates Belarus’ assistance in the prisoner swap between Moscow and Washington and expresses gratitude to the country’s President Aleksandr Lukashenko personally 

This statement was made at a briefing by press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov. “Of course, we must give the highest assessment to the interaction that was carried out with the KGB, the Foreign Ministry of Belarus, and to the assistance that President [of Belarus Aleksandr] Lukashenko personally provided,” the Kremlin representative stated.

Aleksandr Lukashenko: US president had nothing to do with prisoner swap between Russia and Western countries

As he met with residents of the agrotown of Prudok, Belarus’ President Aleksandr Lukashenko explained how negotiations on the prisoner swap between Russia and the West had proceeded. Aleksandr Lukashenko said, “You saw that the guys have been extracted. We were asked to assist and did the best we could. People with life sentences in the West were freed. Truth be told, people like the US president inflate their authority with this event. The US president had nothing to do with organising the prisoner swap between Russia and Western countries, although he is now trying to ‘gain’ authority on this.” 
According to President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko, “Security agencies conducted these talks. Even the diplomats were not involved. We agreed that we would proceed quietly — shouts all over the world began. These things are done quietly. After all, people’s lives are at stake.”
The German citizen Rico Krieger, who has been pardoned by the President of Belarus, had been found guilty on charges under six articles of the Criminal Code and had been sentenced to capital punishment for committing a terrorist attack. “What would have happened if people had died, god forbid? It is good that they did not,” the Head of State noted. “We do not buy or sell people. We gave away the German in order to help people take away these poor souls. What is bad about it? And this German is alive and this guy was saved.”
Aleksandr Lukashenko stated that in such situations the authorities would act wisely in a way that benefits the country and the people. “This is why I ask only one thing from you: you have to take care of your own work, you have to do everything,” the President concluded.