THE GUARDIAN: Rico Krieger admits role in Ukrainian plot and pleads for German chancellor to save him during broadcast
A German man sentenced to death in Belarus has appeared on state television in the country, in tears and begging the German government to intervene in his case.
“Mr Scholz, please, I am still alive … it is not yet too late,” said Rico Krieger, who was pictured handcuffed inside a cell, appealing to the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz.
Authorities in Belarus, a dictatorial state where torture and politicised trials are rife, claim that Krieger, 30, travelled to the country last autumn on the orders of Ukrainian intelligence, with the goal of carrying out a terrorist attack on a railway line.
“This was the biggest mistake of my life. I admit my guilt, without a doubt,” said Krieger in a section of the interview where the original German was audible below a Russian-language voiceover translation. At several moments during the 17-minute television programme he broke down crying. » | Shaun Walker in Warsaw and Deborah Cole in Berlin | Friday, July 26, 2024
Belarus sentences German medic to death, activists say: A court in Belarus has sentenced a German medic to death after he was found guilty of charges related to terrorism and mercenary activity, rights activists have said. »
