From LinkedIn
Rico Krieger is a 29-year-old employee of the German Red Cross.
CNN
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a German According to a Belarusian human rights group, a Belarusian citizen was charged with terrorism and mercenary activities and sentenced to death.
The human rights centre Viasna said the German national was a 29-year-old German Red Cross worker named Rico Krieger.
According to his LinkedIn profile, he worked as a paramedic for the German Red Cross and as an armed security guard at the U.S. Embassy in Berlin.
Viasna said on its website on Friday that Krieger was sentenced by the Minsk Regional Court on June 24.
According to Viasna, Krieger was charged with six offences under the Belarusian Criminal Code, including “mercenary activities,” “agent activities,” “terrorist acts,” “creating an extremist organisation,” “intentional damage to vehicles or communication lines” and “illegal activities relating to firearms, ammunition and explosives.”
Viasna also reported that Krieger was found guilty of “planning the explosion to influence the decision-making of authorities and intimidate residents.” [and] ‘Destabilizing public order’ It is unclear exactly what led Krieger to carry out the crime or when it occurred.
“The German Foreign Ministry and our embassy in Minsk are providing consular assistance to the individual and are working intensively with the Belarusian authorities on his behalf,” a German foreign ministry spokesman told CNN on Saturday, apparently referring to Krieger.
“The death penalty is a cruel and inhuman punishment and Germany rejects it under all circumstances. We work actively around the world for the abolition of the death penalty and strongly oppose its use in all cases involved,” the spokesman added.
Belarus said it had secured consular access for German nationals. Foreign Ministry spokesman Anatoly Glaz X said in a statement.. Minsk “proposed several options” to Germany “for the development of the situation,” he said. Belarusian state media BelTA.
“Of course we are in contact with the German side on this issue. The criminal is a German citizen and we understand the concerns the German side has about him,” Glaz told Belta news agency. “The issue is being discussed between the two foreign ministries,” he added.
German Red Cross (DRK) He spoke to CNN’s German affiliate N-TV.The “man in question,” who did not name Krieger, had previously worked for them but his time abroad was unrelated to his work with DRK.
CNN has also reached out to the German Red Cross for comment.
“We are concerned by the news that German national Rico Krieger has been sentenced to death by the Lukashenko regime in Belarus,” the exiled Belarusian opposition leader said. Sviatlana Tikhanovskaya is On Friday at X.
“We are currently gathering more information about his case. From what we know, he has been charged with several so-called ‘extremism’ related offences,” she added.
