A German man sentenced to life in prison in Belarus appears on state television and asks for forgiveness from Lukashenko, accusing his home country of “doing nothing”. Berlin condemns: “Intolerable humiliation”.
“I hope that President Lukashenko will forgive me and absolve me,” said 30-year-old Rico Krieger to the Belarusian head of state on state television. The German national was sentenced to death in a secret trial at the end of June. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has already reacted to the incident, saying that it is “intolerable how the Belarusian regime humiliated a German citizen on television.”
Germany has questioned not only the way the trial was conducted, but also the methods used by Belarus, firmly opposing the death penalty. “We must do everything to ensure that their rights are protected; the death penalty has been abolished in Europe,” said Annalena Baerbock. Yet the Belarusian regime still allows it.
Speaking on state television, Rico Krieger revealed that he worked in absentia for the Ukrainian secret services, the SBU. The 30-year-old said he had been tasked with photographing military bases in Belarus and admitted that he was the one who blew up a railway track south-east of Minsk in October 2023. “I deeply regret what I did and I am relieved that there were no casualties.”
“It was the biggest mistake of my life. And probably the last. I am guilty,” “I worked as a rescuer for over a year, assisting, for example, in accidents and heart attacks,” said the 30-year-old, who said he worked in the “security service of the American embassy in Berlin.” “That’s when I learned how to use weapons.” It was for this job that he was invited by the Ukrainian secret services and hired to carry out disruptive activities in Belarus.
That is why he was sentenced to death by the Belarusian judicial system. After the verdict, the German citizen on television blamed the German government for “doing nothing.” “I feel like a giraffe about to be slaughtered,” he said, lamenting: “The government was supposed to fight for me, but only my family does.”
However, the German government has met with Belarusian leaders and expressed its concern. On Friday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed his “concern” about the sentence given to Rico Krieger, a government spokesman stressed.
German Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Katrin Deschauer also stressed that the government is “very concerned about the violation of human dignity” in the video broadcast on state television and that it is doing everything possible to free the 30-year-old man. Deutsche Welle writes that German diplomacy has engaged diplomatically and has met with Belarusian leaders.
But it is possible that the Belarusian government wants to put pressure on the German authorities to possible prisoner exchange. According to Deutsche Welle, Minsk is considering exchanging Rico Krieger for Vadim Krasikov, a member of the Russian secret services who killed Chechen commander Zelimkhan Khangoshvili in Berlin in 2019 and was sentenced to life in prison. Russia is also considering exchanging Alexei Navalny, Vladimir Putin’s biggest opponent, for Vadim Krasikov.
Belarus’ diplomatic spokesman Anatoly Glaz has already mentioned that “concrete solutions” have been proposed based on “the available possibilities to change the situation” and “consultations on this issue are underway” between the diplomatic services of the two countries, the spokesman added. The same source, without giving details on what the possible solutions are.
Source: Observadora
