BELARUS. TWO LEADERS OF THE "KRICHEV GANG" SENTENCED TO BE SHOT

Oleg Potapenko and Vyacheslav Knyazkov, two leaders of a gang that “terrorized the Mogilyov region” between 2001 and 2004, were sentenced to death in Belarus. The trial of 12 members of the "Krichev gang," named after the city in the Mogilyov region where it was formed in 2001, had commenced on September 5, 2005. A panel of the Mogilyov Regional Court found the gang members guilty of five counts of murder and more than 10 counts of violent assaults with intent to rob as well as a range of other offenses. Potapenko and Knyazkov were sentenced be shot as well as having all their personal property confiscated. Eight others were sentenced to prison terms of 12 to 25 years in a high security institution and to property confiscation. One man was sentenced to one year corrective labor and another man received a two-year sentence restricting his freedom. Formed by young men aged between 18 and 20, the gang operated in the Mogilyov region and the Krupki district in the Minsk region.