Belarus pardons German sentenced to death

Rico Krieger, a 30-year-old German national, was arrested in October and accused of acting as a mercenary. He was found guilty of terrorism charges in a closed-door trial and sentenced to death. However, news of his death sentence only became widely known last week. Following an intervention by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Krieger's execution has been commuted to a pardon. This sudden development has sparked speculation that Belarus may be seeking to release Krieger. It is reported that Krieger's lawyers had been seeking a stay of execution, and Lukashenko had been considering their bid.