On 1 February Liubou Kavaliova appealed to the Constitutional Court of Belarus with the request to review the Penal Execution Code for compliance with the Constitution, since the Code does not provide the suspension of the death penalty in case the convicted person applies to the international authorities in order to protect his or her rights.

Kavaliova fears that the sentence against her son, who was accused of the terrorist attack in Minsk metro, can be executed before the final consideration of the case by the Committee for Human Rights which she and her daughter appealed to .

The Constitutional Court has responded that only specifically authorized by the Constitution bodies have the right to appeal to the Constitutional Court.

On 6 February Kavaliova sent letters to the organizations which have the legal right to appeal to the Constitutional Court – to the Council of Ministers, to both chambers of the National Assembly, to the Supreme Court and to the head of the state. She asked them to forward to the Court.the conclusion of non-compliance of the Code with the Constitution and the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

The respond was received only from the Department of сitizenship and clemency of the Administration of the President – on 18 February.

According to human rights defender Raman Kislyak, who advises Kavaliova on legal issues the response says that in compliance with Kavaliova’s proposal “an appropriate comprehensive legal analysis of legislation, with the involvement of the competent state authorities should be conducted”.

“”The hope that my son would not be executed until his case is discussed in the UN Committee on Human Rights arose in my heart”, – said Liubou Kavaliova, commenting the response to her appeal to Lukashenka

The European Parliament’s resolution on the death penalty is accepted, but will the authorities consider it?
On 16 February the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the death penalty in Belarus, in particular, on the cases of Dzmitry Kanavalau and Uladzislau Kavaliou,
The resolution expresses regret in regard to the refusal of the Belarusian authorities to take any real steps towards the abolition of the death penalty or imposing an immediate moratorium on it, and condemns the death sentence against Kavaliou and Kanavalau.The resolution calls upon Lukashenka to “pardon these people and declare a moratorium on death sentences with an aim to abolishing the death penalty from the penal system by ratifying the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in accordance with international standards.”

“It is crucial that the issue of the death penalty in Belarus is being discussed on this high level, raising concern of European politicians. On the other hand, we can say that the Belarusian authorities do not pay much attention to the European Parliament’s resolutions. And there are no major hopes that the resolution may affect the situation” –   said the coordinator of the campaign “Human rights defenders against the death penalty,” Andrei Paluda (left).

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On 30 November, 2011 the Supreme Court of the Republic of Belarus has passed a death sentence in the case of Dzmitry Kanavalau and Uladzislau Kavaliou, who were accused of committing a series of bombings, including during the celebration of Independence Day in 2008, and the terrorist attack in Minsk Metro on 11 April, 2011.  As a result of the terrorist attack in metro 15 people were killed and hundreds were injured. The public prosecutor in his speech demanded capital punishment to both defendants. On 7 December, Uladzislau Kavaliou has filed a petition for a pardon in the name of Aliaksandr Lukashenka. According to Prosecutor General of Belarus Aliakandr Kaniuk, Dzmitry Kanavalau, the second convict, refused to file a petition for clemency.

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