A Belarusian court has sentenced a German doctor to death after finding him guilty of terrorism and mercenary activities, human rights activists say.
Viasna, one of Belarus’s main activist groups, said in a statement that Rico Krieger, 30, was convicted of six charges in a closed trial in June. The group said Krieger faces execution by firing squad.
The trigger for the charges remains unclear and the country’s state-run news agency did not provide further details about the allegations in its report.
Belarus is the last country in Europe where the death penalty still exists and says it only applies to serious crimes, including treason.
Viasna said Krieger’s charges included mercenary activities, espionage, terrorist activities, forming an extremist group and illegal activities involving firearms and explosives.
This is the first time that someone has been put on trial in Belarus for mercenary activities.
The group, based in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, said Krieger, who worked as a medic for the German Red Cross, had been detained since November 2023.
Parts of the trial were held behind closed doors, and Viasna added that it was unclear whether Krieger appealed the sentence or whether it took effect.
According to his LinkedIn profile, he previously worked as a security guard at the U.S. Embassy in Berlin before moving into the health care industry, working as a nurse and specializing in emergency medicine.
Viasna suggested that the offences Krieger is being charged with could arise from his alleged involvement with the Kastoz Kalinowski Regiment, a group of Belarusian nationals who volunteered to fight Russian forces in Ukraine – something the BBC cannot independently verify.
The regiment was named after a Belarusian-Polish writer, journalist and lawyer who was executed in 1864 for leading a revolt against Russia.
It was not immediately clear what ties Krieger had to the group, but Belarusian opposition media reported he may have had ties to a unit within the regiment known as the “Western” battalion.
In a brief statement, the German Foreign Ministry confirmed that a German national had been sentenced to death in Minsk, but did not directly name Krieger.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and our embassy in Minsk are providing consular assistance to the individual in question and are working closely with the Belarusian authorities,” the ministry said, adding that Germany considers the death penalty a “cruel and inhuman punishment”.
“We are working towards its abolition around the world,” the statement said.
“This news concerns me,” Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, a Belarusian opposition leader living in exile in Lithuania, said in a post on X.
Alexander Lukashenko has led Belarus since 1994. He has long sought to pit the EU and Russia against each other while maintaining his hold on power in Minsk.
But he has had to turn increasingly to Russian President Vladimir Putin since mass protests swept across the country after he declared Tikhanovskaya the winner of the 2020 presidential election.
The Western countries refused to recognise his claim.
