Pukhavichy arsonist murderers lose appeals
After the Belarusian leader's personal
interference in February, three suspects in the case were released from pretrial
detention and placed under house arrest, according to BelaPAN.
According to the case file, the four residents
of Pukhavichy murdered the victim, Mikalay Makarevich, on December 31, 2009.
They stalked him for several hours before attacking him with two axes and
killing him with blows to the head. They took the dead man to a desolate area,
hit him in the neck with an axe and went away. In the evening, they came back,
set the body on fire, and then went to a café to celebrate New Year’s Eve.
During the trial, the suspects claimed that Mikalay Makarevich had threatened
to burn the house where one of them lived. They did not produce any evidence to
substantiate the allegation.
The 43-year-old victim had previous convictions of arson and was about to stand
trial on arson charges.
His body was found on January 6 and the three suspected men, aged between 28
and 36, were arrested four days later. Nonetheless, they were released from
pretrial detention after less than a month by order of Alyaksandr Lukashenka.
Moreover, the Belarusian leader told Supreme Court Chairman Valyantsin Sukala
to sympathize with the suspects. “He [the victim] was a villain, terrorized
people, the entire village," Mr. Lukashenka said. "If the men took
that step, they probably were angered indeed and all ordinary people are on
their side. I don’t say that this should be encouraged. Without encouraging,
one should understand these people who took this extreme measure."
