Criminal Code changes pave the way for large-scale reprisals, lawyer says

January 13, Pozirk. Pavieł Sapiełka, a lawyer with the Viasna Human Rights Center, has expressed concern about new changes to the Criminal Code that passed the House of Representatives last week, noting that the legislation paves the way for large-scale reprisals against critics.
In particular, Sapiełka, a former political prisoner, pointed to a significant expansion of articles that can be used to prosecute Belarusians for crimes allegedly committed abroad.
The list includes the following articles:
• 130 – incitement to hatred
• 130-1 – justification of Nazism
• 130-2 – denial of the genocide against Belarusians
• 289 – act of terrorism
• 289-1 – propaganda of terrorism
• 290 – threat to commit an act of terrorism
• 290-1 – terrorism funding
• 290-2 – supporting terrorist activity
• 290-3 – undergoing training for terrorist activity
• 290-4 – forming an organization for terrorist activity
• 290-5 – organizing the activities of a terrorist group
• 367 – defamation of the head of state
• 369-1 – discrediting Belarus
• 370 – insulting state symbols
• 373 – intentional disclosure of state secrets
• 374 – disclosure of state secrets through negligence
Sapiełka said judges had sentenced more than 3,500 people in Belarus on these charges.
He welcomed the proposal to stop imposing prison sentences on “women and single men raising children under 14 years of age or children with disabilities, people with Group I disabilities who have committed a non-violent crime for the first time that does not pose a great public danger or a less serious crime that did not result in the death of a person through negligence or serious bodily harm.”
However, the proposal would not apply to political activists persecuted on extremism-related charges.
He went on to say that the bill would authorize police to impose restrictions on those pardoned and require those under preventive supervision after prison to work or study.
The bill includes amendments to the Criminal, Criminal Procedure and Penal Codes, the Code of Administrative Offenses, and the Procedure Code for Administrative Offenses.
- PoliticsBelarus to open consulate general in Tatarstan for six Russian regionsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsReprisals: admin accused of filming Russian military hardwareThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityRussian-born Butraniec appointed as deputy chairman of State Border CommitteeThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityLithuania, Latvia report a spike in irregular border crossing attemptsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- EconomyBelarusian steelmaker scales back output to maintain profitabilityThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Society
- PoliticsBelarus' FM accuses the West of impeding development of other countriesThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics
- Economy
- EconomyBelarus to raise subsistence minimum budget on May 1The material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsOpposition politician slams prison sentences against Kalinoŭski fighters as revengeThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SocietyGovernment allows hunting bears, lynxesThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityJournalists expose Belarusian company’s links with Russian defense industryThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsRights groups declare seven new political prisonersThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsReprisals: jailed activist Kaleśnikava turns 43The material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityMinsk court sentences five Belarusian volunteer fighters to lengthy prison termsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SocietyMore than 17,000 Belarusians visited Georgia in Q1The material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityArmy battalion conducting offensive exercise near AsipovičyThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy
- PoliticsUN experts sound alarm over forced psychiatric treatment of Belarusian dissidentsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy
- Economy
- PoliticsRights group reports raids in Dziaržynsk, exiled Belarusians targetedThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Society
- PoliticsSikorski, Rubio discuss migration crisis at Polish-Belarusian borderThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsReprisals: police punish criticism of Łukašenka’s policiesThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsCatholic priest free after reported April 23 arrestThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SocietyBelarus arrests French man on suspicion of hashish smugglingThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsBelarus’ police arrest Catholic priest, evangelical pastorThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Belarus to build nuclear disposal site in Mahiloŭ region, Astraviec district or radiation-contaminated areaThe material is available only to POZIRK+