Death sentence to Ivan Kulesh has been upheld

photo by the Human Rights Center "Viasna"

On March 28 the Supreme Court’s Criminal Board has turned down the appeal and left the verdict of the Hrodna Regional Court in place. Kulesh was told about his right to seek pardon from the President.

Let us recall that Ivan Kulesh was sentenced to death by a verdict of Judge Anatol Zayats of the Hrodna Regional Court of 20 November 2015.

He was charged of triple murder, as well as attempted murder, theft and robbery committed in the Lida district in 2013 and 2014.

During the hearing, Ivan Kulesh said that he fully agreed with his sentence saying that it was ‘fair’, HRC “Viasna” informs. He confessed to one murder, but refused to answer the judge’s question of whether he had killed the two remaining saleswomen.

Ivan Kulesh said that during the investigation he was forced to testify. He was questioned without a lawyer, while the latter only came to sign papers.

The lawyer asked to commute the death penalty to 25 years’ imprisonment, since the case has extenuating circumstances, including full confession, which were not taken into account by the Regional Court.

The public prosecutor said there was no reason to reduce the sentence.

As a result, the Supreme Court has turned down the appeal and left the verdict in place. The death convict was told about his right to seek pardon from the President.

Ivan Kulesh had previous convictions for theft, robbery and false denunciation. He had no permanent job.