Belarus state television releases video confession of German man sentenced to death

Belarusian state television aired a 17-minute video posted to YouTube on Thursday in which a German man found guilty of terrorism and sentenced to death in June admits guilt for his crimes. 

In the video, Rico Krieger cries while begging for forgiveness and asks Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko to pardon him. 

Although no date was given for Krieger’s death sentence by firing squad, state-run news outlet Belarus Today said on Monday that Belarusian authorities were ready to put Krieger to death. A number of human rights organisations have since condemned the Belarusian verdict. 

According to prosecutors, Krieger, a former Red Cross employee, was instructed by the Security Service of Ukraine to carry out reconnaissance and take photographs of Belarusian military installations in October. Krieger was also found guilty of planting explosives along a railway line and causing an explosion on 5 October. Krieger admits that he planted the explosives in the video. 

German media have been extremely critical of Krieger’s sentence and confession, asserting that he was likely to have been filmed under pressure, which is not uncommon in Belarus. “It is impossible to say whether Rico Krieger’s statements are genuine due to a number of factors. Krieger spoke with employees of a TV channel completely controlled by the authorities, and under duress,” German state-owned media outlet Deutsche Welle said on Telegram. 

Throughout the video, a narrator gives a Russian voiceover to Krieger’s admissions. In what appears to be a highly edited sequence of clips, the video makes several claims, including that Krieger is a “highly motivated criminal” who has received no help from German authorities. The German Foreign Ministry has said that despite not recognising the legitimacy of the Belarusian dictator, the German Embassy in Minsk has been providing Krieger with “intensive consular support from the very beginning”, Deutsche Welle reported. 

Belarus is the only country in Europe where the death penalty remains in force, with at least 15 crimes currently punishable by death.