Get the Scoop with Emma Stirling

The scoop on staying on the health track over the holidays


Emma Stirling APD

As we enter the home stretch to the holidays, tis the season to be jolly and cocktail parties, neighbourhood gatherings, work functions and backyard BBQs crowd our calendars, just as leftovers crowd our fridge and pantry. So, how can you stay on the health track with all this abundance? And what’s the smart approach to leftovers and food gifts? Here's the scoop.

Be a host, with the most When you plan your party aim for quality not quantity. Indulging your guests with seafood may be more expensive than a bowl of chips or crackers and high fat dip, but if it’s a special occasion the investment in your health goals is worth it. If you plan a right size portion of each course for each guest, you can stay on budget and not have leftovers to tempt you. Pass on the big plates. Your favourite salads look stunning served in a drinking glass with a dessert fork at party time, just as I did for my recipe for Hot smoked salmon and freekeh nicoise.

Bring a (healthy) plate A common holiday eating trap is the family and neighbourhood get-together. Everyone is so willing to bring a dessert, dip or dish that there is often way too much (rich and creamy) food on offer, not to mention a fridge groaning with leftovers. So tell your host that you will bring your signature Moroccan chickpea salad or our Low GI, Carisma potato salad with lemon yogurt dressing. You can then skip the creamy coleslaw and creamy pasta salad and fill half your plate with veggies (even if your brought them yourself!)



Let it go Pass on the cute-shaped shortbreads and mince pies and make your own gifts like preserved lemons, herb vinegars, lovely fruit baskets with a sprinkling of exotic nuts or grow-your-own pots of culinary herbs.

Stay safe Christmas is a high risk time for food poisoning, especially in places where summer heat can affect perishable, party food quickly. You need to take special care preparing food for young children, pregnant women, the elderly and anyone whose immune system may be compromised. Follow the golden rules of food safety: use separate cutting boards and utensils for raw meats and defrost meat and poultry in the fridge or butchers cool room; transfer perishable food in an esky or icebox; keep food in the fridge until the last minute or pull out small serves throughout the party; refrigerate leftovers as quickly as possible and use within 2-3 days, discarding any items that have been on the kitchen bench or buffet too long. Get creative with your leftover ham or turkey, like in our recipe for Turkey and bean chili with avocado salsa or Cajun stuffed peppers, and you’ll sail into the New Year in great shape.

Emma Stirling is an Accredited Practising Dietitian and health writer with over ten years experience writing for major publications. She is editor of The Scoop on Nutrition – a blog by expert dietitians. Check it out for hot news bites and a healthy serve of what’s in flavour.

In the GI News Kitchen

American dietitian and author of Good Carbs, Bad Carbs, Johanna Burani, shares favourite recipes with a low or moderate GI from her Italian kitchen. For more information, check out Johanna's website. The photographs are by Sergio Burani. His food, travel and wine photography website is photosbysergio.com.

Cheese-filled leek cannelloni
This is my friend Vanda’s recipe. She was served this unusual ‘primo piatto’ at a restaurant in the mountains well above her village in northern Italy. She replicated it perfectly (she says) at home and has shared it with me. And now I’m sharing it with you. Buon appetito! Serves 4 (2 pieces each).

4 long cleaned leeks, white parts only
120g/4oz gorgonzola dolce (sweet), at room temperature
120g/4oz part-skim ricotta
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
2 tbsp grated parmigiano reggiano cheese


Cut the leeks in half so you have 8 pieces, each approximately 10cm/4in long. Steam for approximately 25 minutes or until the leeks are very soft but still holding their shape. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Carefully cut through the outer layers and gently open. Do not cut through all the layers. Depending on how thick each leek is, separate the layers and lay them on a flat surface, overlapping 3–4 layers on each other.
Prepare the filling by mixing together the cheeses in a small bowl, using a fork to smooth.
Divide the filling among the prepared leek layers and gently roll to close.
Place the cannelloni, cut side down, in a shallow, oven-proof casserole dish, previously sprayed with vegetable oil. Drizzle the olive oil over the top of the leeks, then sprinkle the breadcrumbs and the grated cheese. Grill/broil 10cm/4in from the grill for 5–6 minutes or until the leeks are golden brown. Serve immediately.

Per serve
Energy: 880kJ/210cals; Protein 11g; Fat 15g (includes 8g saturated fat and 33mg cholesterol); Available carbohydrate 3g; Fibre 1g

Cut back on the food bills and enjoy fresh-tasting, easily prepared, seasonal, satisfying and delicious low or moderate GI meals that don’t compromise on quality and flavour one little bit with this Money Saving Meals recipe from Ian Hemphill's Just Add Spice (with Lyndey Milan and published by Penguin/Lantern). For more recipes check out the Money Saving Meal website.

Baharat beef with olives.
Spice up your holiday fare with this casserole made with inexpensive, slow-cooking cuts such as chuck or gravy beef). The book includes the recipe to make your own spice mix – but we prefer to use Herbies ready-made blend. Baharat, sometimes referred to as Lebanese seven spice, has a beautiful bouquet that conveys all the romantic fragrances of everything that is spice. We used low GI Carisma potatoes, but if they aren’t available, you can reduce the GI by mashing low GI root vegies like parsnip, carrot and butternut pumpkin with the potato. Serves 4–6.

1 tbsp olive oil
3–4 cloves garlic, chopped
1kg (2lb 4oz) lean beef, cubed
5 tsp baharat spice mix
400g (14oz) can whole peeled tomatoes
½ cup (125ml) dry red wine
12 pitted black olives
Salt
Mashed Carisma potatoes (4), to serve

Preheat the oven to 120ºC/250ºF (100ºC/210ºF fan-forced.
Heat the oil in a medium, heavy-based flameproof casserole dish over medium–low heat and soften the garlic. Do not brown.
Toss the cubes of meat in the baharat spice mix. Increase the heat to medium, add the beef to the casserole dish and cook briefly until sealed on all sides. Add the tomatoes wine, olives and ½ cup (125ml) water. Season to taste with salt if desired, but keep in mind that the olives are salty so you may not need much. Stir frequently and bring to a gentle simmer, then cover and cook in the oven for 2½–3 hours until the beef is very tender. Serve over a scoop of well-mashed potatoes with a salad on the side.

Just Add Spice (and baharat spice mix) is available from Herbies.



Per serve (for 6 serves without the mashed potato)
Energy: 1700kJ/400cals; Protein 38g; Fat 11g (includes 4g saturated fat and 100mg cholesterol); Available carbohydrate 28g; Fibre 3.5g

Honey baked salmon
The salmon is smothered in an aromatic mixture of honey, fresh garlic and ginger, soy sauce, coarse grain mustard, and balsamic vinegar in this fabulously simple and delicious recipe from Azmina Govindji, nutrition consultant for the Ismaili Nutrition Centre. Azmina recommends serving it on a bed of brown rice with a crisp green salad, and for that really special occasion, partnering it up with asparagus tips. Serves 2.

1 heaped tsp honey
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1–2 tsp coarse grain mustard
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2cm/3/4in chunks fresh ginger, chopped
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh coriander leaves
1 tsp chopped fresh green chillies (optional)
2 salmon fillets, each about 120g/4oz



Mix together all of the ingredients except the salmon. Marinate the salmon fillets in this mixture and set them aside for half an hour (if you have time).
Place the fillets with the marinade on a lightly greased baking tray and cook in an oven preheated to 200°C (400°F) or gas mark 6 for 10–12 minutes until just cooked.

Azmina Govindji is a Registered Dietitian and TV Nutritionist (as seen on The One Show, The Wright Stuff and This Morning). she is Media Spokesperson for British Dietetic Association and NHS Choices. Find her at twitter.com/AzminaNutrition

Per serve (without the brown rice and salad)
Energy: 880kJ/232cals; Protein 25g; Fat 13g (includes 2g saturated fat and 33mg cholesterol); Available carbohydrate 3.5g; Fibre negligible

Blood orange compote
This light, not too sweet, slightly acidic and low GI dessert makes the perfect finishing note to a big meal. The Monday Morning Cooking Club team agreed to share it with GI News readers for this special holiday fare edition. The recipe was contributed by Barbara Solomon who has been making it for years for her family and friends having adapted it way back from one she found in Janet Fletcher’s Fresh from the Farmers’ Market. Serves 6–8.

6–8 large blood or navel oranges (or a mixture of both
¾ cup LogiCane or table sugar
1 cup dry white wine
1 cinnamon stick
2–3 cloves
2 thin (5mm) slices peeled fresh ginger, lightly smashed
1 cup water



Remove 4 wide strips of peel from 1 orange, making sure there is no pith, and reserve. Cut a thin slice off the top and bottom of each orange. Using a small paring knife, slice off the peel and pith. Cut between the membranes to remove the segments and place in a serving bowl. Alternatively, cut the peeled oranges into 5mm (1/8in) thick slices.
Combine, in a saucepan, the remaining ingredients plus the reserved strips of orange peel. Bring to the boil and simmer on medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar, for 10–15 minutes, or until the liquid is reduced to 1 ½ cups (375ml). Strain the hot syrup and pour over the fruit, adding the cinnamon stick to the fruit. Leave to cool. Cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Serve chilled.

The Monday Morning Cooking Club started back in 2006 when 6 Jewish women who live in Sydney came together on a Monday morning to share recipes and talk about food. What started as an idea to raise money for charity (over $230,000 to date), grew into a project to document their community’s somewhat obsessive relationship with food, and became a beautifully photographed (by Alan Benson) book with 100 recipes from 65 ‘contributing cooks’. It’s available from their website HERE.

Per serve (based on 8 servings using 8 oranges)
Energy: 750kJ/180cals; Protein 2g; Fat 0.5g (includes 0.1g saturated fat and 0mg cholesterol); Available carbohydrate 35g; Fibre 4g

Baked fruit medley
This deliciously simple baked fruit medley from Catherine Saxelby and Jennene Plummer’s Zest cookbook (Hardie Grant) makes a fabulous finish to festive fare. When stone fruit is in season, Jennene suggests you ring the changes and top a selection of peaches, nectarines, apricots or plums with flaked almonds and bake for 15–20 minutes. Serves 4–6

¼ cup pure maple syrup
30g/1oz light margarine
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3 green apples, quartered (retain skin and core)
3 pears, quartered (retain skin and core)
200g/7oz dried figs or the softer dessert figs
3 stalks rhubarb, trimmed and sliced
low-fat ice cream to serve



Preheat the oven to 180ºC (350ºF).
Combine the maple syrup, margarine, sugar and cinnamon in a small saucepan. Heat gently, stirring, until melted and well combined.

Arrange the apples, pears and figs in a baking dish. Pour in the syrup and toss gently so the fruit is evenly coated.Bake for 15 minutes. Add the rhubarb to the dish, stirring in gently so it is coated with syrup. Bake for a further 10–15 minutes until the fruit is tender. Serve warm with a scoop of low-fat ice cream.
Zest is available from Catherine’s website, Foodwatch.
Per serve (including 1 scoop low fat ice cream)
Energy: 1325kJ/315cals; Protein 3g; Fat 5g (includes 1g saturated fat); Available carbohydrate 63g; Fibre 10g

Busting Food Myths with Nicole Senior

Nicole Senior

Myth: Festive overeating is harmless.
Fact: Festive overeating can have adverse health consequences. It’s time to outsmart our primitive instincts and engage higher order thinking about how much we eat during the holidays.

The holiday season is rapidly approaching and chief cooks in households around the world are starting to think about what festive fare to serve family and friends (of course the better organised ones have already made the Christmas puddings, mince pies and cakes). Serving the special foods that are part of your cultural traditions is part of the ritual and something everyone looks forward to. In my family, ensalada rusa (Spanish potato salad) will always be on the buffet table along with other traditional Spanish and Aussie Christmas fare. It's all so tempting, it's hard not to overfill your plate ...



However, is it really harmful? Well, professor of nutrition and psychiatry at Tufts University Susan Roberts reports Americans gain an average of between five and eight pounds in the short interval between Thanksgiving and the New Year (just one month). I’d bet most of that stays put after the Christmas tree is packed away.

The big problem these days with our festive fare is the the holiday season seems to have spread way beyond that special Christmas eve dinner or Christmas lunch with parties and celebrations galore, each vying for your eating affections. However each time you overload your system with excessive food, it’s akin to metabolic assault: your blood becomes milky with fat (post-prandial lipaemia); glucose, insulin levels and inflammatory hormones rise; your blood vessels become less flexible (called endothelial dysfunction) and your blood becomes more likely to clot (or pro-thrombotic). Unfortunately for those with diabetes or pre-diabetes, these adverse effects are worse.

And did you know that rather than signalling the body to ease-off at subsequent meals, huge meals actually increase appetite for the next meal perpetuating a vicious cycle of overeating (people often say their stomach has stretched). Eating high GI foods makes things worse. It’s no wonder emergency rooms experience a rush of cardiac patients on Christmas and Boxing Day.

Surely it’s time to move on? The planet can no longer sustain such excess and our physical health is suffering as a result. Here are some tips to help you resist the pull of festive overeating and holiday weight gain:

WHAT to eat

• Utilise the hunger-busting power of protein (lean meat, poultry, seafood and eggs) and low GI carbs (dense grainy breads, pasta, milk and yoghurt) as well as the low-kilojoule filling-power of vegetables and legumes.
• Focus on eating modest portions of food you really like and avoid the rest
• Curb the liquid calories from sugary drinks and alcohol which don’t satisfy hunger but contribute to weight gain
• Avoid or limit the calorific ‘nibbles’ served before or between meals
• Limit how much alcohol you drink or you will lose those higher order thinking skills to put all of this into action

HOW to eat

• Decide you will retain control beforehand and eat mindfully
• Avoid turning up to festive feasts starving – this increases the chances of overeating
• Resist the temptation to go for seconds
• Enjoy small portions of rich foods like puddings and desserts – try sharing a single serving
• If you are catering, be bold in offering healthier options and cook the right quantities to avoid waste. Don't pressure guests to eat more than they need.
• If you’re on the receiving end of pressure to overeat, be kind but assertive. Your health and comfort need not suffer to please others.

Many of the adverse effects of overeating can be reversed by exercise, but it’s hard to throw a ball around when you’ve fallen into a postprandial stupor and can’t get out of your chair. Perhaps the best test of eating the right amount is having some get-up-and-go a few hours after getting up from the table? Sincere best wishes to you and yours for a happy and healthy festive season.

Further reading: Why do people eat too much? by Jonah Lehrer

Nicole Senior is an Accredited Practising Dietitian and Nutritionist and author of Eat to Beat Cholesterol, Heart Food and Belly Busting for Blokes.

GI Symbol News with Dr Alan Barclay

Dr Alan Barclay

Celebrating the low GI way
You don’t have to forsake all of your favourite foods to avoid the battle of the bulge. Watching the amount of food you eat and swapping rich and fatty high GI foods for healthy low GI alternatives will help keep you on an even keel over the festive season. Here are some practical tips for the big day:

Main course	Serve size
Roast turkey breast with Stuffing (made with a Burgen or a grainy low GI bread or traditional oats), or	1 large slice 1 scoop
Baked ham, or	1 large slice
Honey and oregano roasted leg of lamb	1 large slice
Your favourite fish or seafood (avoid deep fried or battered varieties)	1 piece fish or 4 king prawns
Starchy sides (a generous ‘scoop’ is about ½ cup)
Vegetable roasties (see recipe below), or	1 generous scoop
Blu Gourmet pearl couscous salad with vegetables and cashew nuts and sesame dressing, or	1 generous scoop
Baked, boiled or steamed Carisma potatoes, or	1–2 potatoes
Potato (made with Carisma potatoes), rice, pasta or couscous salad with vinaigrette dressing, or	1 generous scoop
Bean, lentil or corn salad with vinaigrette dressing	1 generous scoop
Plus non-starchy veggies (as much as you like, but hold the creamy dressings and sauces)
Mixed garden salad	As much as you like
Green vegetables	As much as you like
Dessert
Pavlova with light whipped cream, sliced strawberries, bananas, grapes, kiwifruit and passion fruit, or	1 small piece
Trifle with sponge finger biscuits, diet jelly, low fat yogurt with strawberries and blueberries on top and 99% fat free fromage frais, or	1 small serve
Vanilla pannacotta with strawberry salsa	1 small serve

You can watch Alan demonstrate some healthy low GI alternatives on Channel 7's Sunrise.

Honey and oregano roasted leg of lamb with vegetable roasties
(Recipe by Anneka Manning from The Low GI Family Cookbook published by Hachette in Australia and Da Capo in the US/Canada) Serves 6 (with plenty of leftovers)



1 kg leg of lamb, trimmed of all visible fat
2 large garlic cloves, sliced
8 sprigs oregano, each halved
2 tbsp pure floral honey
4 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp lemon juice

To serve
1 quantity Vegetable roasties (see recipe)
steamed, boiled or microwaved green beans

Preheat oven to 200ºC (400ºF/Gas 6). Place a rack in a roasting pan and add 1 cup water to the pan. Use a small sharp knife to cut slits all over the surface of the lamb. Poke the garlic slices and sprigs of oregano into the slits. Place the lamb on the rack in the roasting pan and roast for 30 minutes. Combine the honey, mustard and lemon juice. Brush over the lamb and return to the oven for a further 20 minutes for medium or 30 minutes for well-done. Remove lamb from oven, cover loosely with foil and set aside in a warm place for 15 minutes to rest. Carve the lamb and serve accompanied by the Vegetable Roasties and steamed green beans.

Vegetable roasties
3 Carisma low GI potatoes
1 medium orange-fleshed sweet potato (about 500g/1lb 2oz)
2 medium parsnips (about 400g/10oz)
2 medium carrots (about 250g/8oz)
1/2 medium butternut pumpkin (about 700g/)
3 teaspoons olive oil
Pinch salt (optional)
Freshly ground black pepper
4 sprigs rosemary, thyme or oregano, leaves removed from stems

Preheat the oven to 220ºC (440ºF) and line a roasting pan with non-stick baking paper. Peel all the vegetables, deseed the pumpkin and cut the vegetables into 2.5cm chunks. Place them in the prepared roasting pan, drizzle with the olive oil and a tiny sprinkle of salt (if using), pepper and herbs. Use your hands (clean of course) to toss the vegetables to coat with the oil and seasonings. Bake for 1 hour, or until golden and tender, tossing the vegetables about 3 times during cooking so that they brown and crisp evenly. Serve immediately.

Per serve
Energy: 2110kJs; Protein 44g; Fat 13g (includes 5g saturated fat and 110mg cholesterol); carbohydrate 45g; Fibre 9g; sodium 200 mg

The GI Symbol, making healthy low GI choices easy choices



For more information about the GI Symbol Program
Dr Alan W Barclay, PhD
Chief Scientific Officer
Glycemic Index Foundation (Ltd)
Phone: +61 (0)2 9785 1037
Mob: +61 (0)416 111 046
Fax: +61 (0)2 9785 1037
Email: alan@gisymbol.com
Website: www.gisymbol.com

GI Update

Prof Jennie Brand-Miller answers your questions


Prof Jennie Brand-Miller

I’m an avid cook, and I love December’s festive fare from the shaped special biscuits to Christmas cake and pudding and mince pies. Which flours, if any, are low GI?
To date there are no GI values for any raw flours of any kind – whether milled from wheat, soy, rice or other grains. This is because the GI rating of a food must be determined physiologically (in real people). So far we haven’t had volunteers willing to consume 50-gram portions of raw flour! What we do know, however, is that many bakery products such as scones, cakes, pikelets and crumpets made from fine flours, whether white or wholemeal, are quickly digested and absorbed. However, some products also made with fine flours, such as biscuits, are often low GI. Here at SUGiRS, we have even tested a low GI Christmas cake and low GI rum balls! So, the final GI of products made with flour is unpredictable.



With your own baking, what I suggest is that you try to increase the soluble fibre content by partially replacing flour with oat bran, psyllium or rolled oats. Of course for Christmas cake and pudding, you can also help lower the overall GI by adding lots of dried fruit. And if you like in Australia, make sure you use LogiCane, the low GI sugar. And keep those portions moderate as it’s really the calories that are the problem with these treat foods!

GI testing by an accredited laboratory North America
Dr Alexandra Jenkins
Glycemic Index Laboratories
20 Victoria Street, Suite 300
Toronto, Ontario M5C 298 Canada
Phone +1 416 861 0506
Email info@gilabs.com
Web www.gilabs.com

Australia
Fiona Atkinson
Research Manager, Sydney University Glycemic Index Research Service (SUGiRS)
Human Nutrition Unit, School of Molecular and Microbial Biosciences
Sydney University
NSW 2006 Australia
Phone + 61 2 9351 6018
Fax: + 61 2 9351 6022
Email sugirs@mmb.usyd.edu.au
Web www.glycemicindex.com

See The New Glucose Revolution on YouTube

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Belarus sentences two to death for Minsk metro bombing

Dmitry Konovalov
and Vladislav Kovalyov

(Reuters) - A Belarus court Wednesday sentenced to death two men for carrying out a bomb attack at a central station of the Minsk metro in April this year which killed 15 people and injured scores of others.

Dmitry Konovalov and Vladislav Kovalyov, both 25, were arrested three days after the April 11 explosion which took place on a packed platform at evening rush-hour.

The two men, friends since childhood, were said by the prosecution to have dabbled with explosives for years and been behind explosions in 2005 in their home town of Vitebsk and a separate bomb attack at Independence Day celebrations in Minsk in 2008.

Rights activists had called on authorities in the ex-Soviet republic not to impose the death sentence. Belarus is the only country in Europe to have retained the use of capital punishment. Execution is carried out by a shot from a pistol.

Describing the accused as "an extreme danger to society," judge Alexander Fedortsov said: "The court sentences (them) to the extreme measure of punishment, death by execution."

Source: Reuters, November 30, 2011

Rights activists appeal for lives of men blamed for Minsk bomb

A court in Belarus could today sentence two young men to be shot in the back of the head for blowing up the Minsk metro system in April, after a trial that observers say has been a farce that threw up more questions than it provided answers.

Rights activists have called on Belarusian authorities not to impose the death sentence on Dmitry Konovalov and his apparent accomplice, Vladislav Kovalyov, with the latter's motherissuing an emotional video appeal this week protesting her son's innocence.

The bomb, detonated at rush hour one evening in April, killed 15 and injured hundreds. The country is run by the dictator Alexander Lukashenko, and although there is an opposition movement, it has never resorted to terrorism, nor is there any religious or ethnic conflict.

Police quickly arrested Konovalov and Kovalyov, however, and the former confessed to making the bomb and detonating it, while the latter admitted he knew his friend's plans and did nothing to stop him. The pair also admitted to a number of smaller attacks. Konovalov said that he carried out the attacks "to destabilise the situation in the Republic of Belarus" and because he disagreed with Mr Lukashenko's policies, but the bizarrely stilted admission, which mirrors an official legal definition, left many suspicious, as did the fact that Konovalov appeared to be entirely apolitical.

During the two-month trial, Kovalyov has said he only implicated his friend after being pressured by investigators, and Konovalov has said nothing. Besides the confessions, the prosecutors have offered little substantial evidence against the two men.

Although the verdict has not yet been delivered, Mr Lukashenko has already publicly rewarded officials for solving the case, and state-controlled media have frequently referred to the two men on trial as "terrorists". With experts seeing little hope of a not-guilty verdict, the main question now is whether the judge will hand down the death sentence. Belarus is the only country in Europe to retain the death penalty.

"I know that my son and Dima are not guilty," said Lyubov Kovalyova, Vladislav Kovalyov's mother, in a video released this week. "I ask just for one thing – that you do not kill my son, and instead find those that are really guilty."

Source: The Independent, November 30, 2011

Press release - AP125(2011)

Belarus: PACE rapporteurs express dismay at the death sentence on Dmitry Konovalov and Vladislav Kovalev

Strasbourg, 30.11.2011 – Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) rapporteurs on Belarus, Andres Herkel (Estonia, EPP/CD), and on the death penalty, Renate Wohlwend (Liechtenstein, EPP/CD) have expressed their dismay at the death sentence handed down today on Dmitry Konovalov and Vladislav Kovalev by the Belarusian Supreme Court, which found them guilty of the fatal bombing in the Minsk Metro on 11 April 2011.

"It is outrageous that Belarus continues to blatantly ignore the international community's calls for a moratorium on the death penalty. Such an irreversible, cruel and inhuman penalty is unacceptable in any civilised society, however heinous the crimes of the perpetrator. Moreover, many human rights defenders who monitored the proceedings in this case raise doubts about the defendants' guilt", stressed the rapporteurs.

"It is also deeply regrettable that the work of the death penalty study group of the National Assembly of Belarus, initiated some time ago, has not borne any fruit and that parliamentarians in Belarus do not dare to speak up against the death penalty ", Ms Wohlwend added.

Mr Herkel is preparing a report for the Political Affairs Committee, due to be adopted on 14 December with a view to an Assembly debate in January 2012.

Parliamentary Assembly Communication Unit

https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?Ref=AP-PR125(2011)&Language=lanEnglish

Press release - DC148(2011)

“Death is not justice!” says Secretary General following announcement of new death sentences in Belarus

Strasbourg, 30.11.2011 - Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjørn Jagland today made the following statement: “I urge the Belarus authorities not to carry out the death sentences pronounced today against Dzmitry Kanavalau and Uladzislau Kavalyou. The crime they were found guilty of was barbaric, but their punishment should not be the same. Belarus is the only country in Europe which still executes people and I would urge the authorities to introduce an immediate moratorium with a view to its ultimate abolition. The victims of the 11 April attack and their families deserve justice, not revenge".

Council of Europe Directorate of Communication

https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?Ref=DC-PR148(2011)&Language=lanEnglish

Help save two innocent men from execution in Belarus

Lyubou Kavalyova is living a mother's worst nightmare -- her son was just sentenced to death for participating in a terrorist attack in Belarus in April. But Lyubou believes strongly that her son and his friend, who was also sentenced, are actually innocent -- it is clear now that their confessions were procured through torture.

Without valid confessions, there's no evidence to support the accusations against these two young men. But political pressure has forced the Supreme Court to sentence Uladzislau Kavalyou and his friend Dzmitry Kanavalau to die for a crime that 88% of Belarussians -- and even victims of the attack -- believe they did not commit. But you can stop it.

As part of her tireless campaign to save her son's life, Lyubou started a petition on Change.org to Belarussian authorities. Now, she's taking her campaign to the European Union. Will you sign Lyubou's petition and demand that EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Catherine Ashton save these two young men from wrongful execution in Belarus?

Now that the Supreme Court has sentenced Uladzislau and Dzmitry to death, they could be killed at any moment. Belarus executed two men in 2010 without informing their families of the time and method of their executions. And their bodies were never returned to their families.

But Uladzislau and Dzmitry's case has been the largest news story of its kind in Belarus, Russia and other parts of Europe, garnering overwhelming public support to save Uladzislau and Dzmitry. Since Belarus is the last country in Europe with the death penalty, action from Catherine Ashton could make Uladzislau and Dzmitry's fate a European issue, and put the brakes on their execution.

Lyubou's heart is breaking, but she's willing to sacrifice everything to save her son. "Even the victims of the attack believe that these two boys are innocent and should not be murdered," she has said. "But if they want more blood, I want them to send me to death instead of my innocent son; I have lived enough."

Please sign Lyubou's petition to save the lives of two men, including her son, from being wrongfully executed by the Belarussian government, and then send it to everyone you know:

http://www.change.org/petitions/the-supreme-court-of-the-republic-of-belarus-please-save-my-son-from-the-death-penalty