INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Tuesday decided to pardon a German man facing the death penalty, the country's state news
agency reported.Lukashenko "took the decision to pardon the German citizen Rico Krieger..
taking into account all the circumstances," Belta news agency reported, citing the president's press service.Krieger, 30, was shown on
Belarusian public television last week, saying "I really hope that President Lukashenko will forgive me and pardon me," according to a
statement quoted by the Russian news agency TASS.Krieger was convicted on six criminal counts including terrorism in a secret trial held in
with the United States about a potential prisoner exchange involving American citizens jailed in Russia
Other Western countries, including Germany, may also be involved in the talks.President Vladimir Putin previously indicated that he is
interview, Krieger said he was asked by Ukraine to photograph military sites in Belarus, adding that he placed an explosive device on a
railroad near the capital Minsk."I deeply regret what I did and I am relieved that there were no victims," he said, accusing the German
medic for the German Red Cross and was previously employed as an armed security officer for the U.S
Embassy in Berlin.Belarus is reported to have executed as many as 400 people since it gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991,
according to Amnesty International, but executions of foreign citizens are rare.AFP contributed reporting.
