September 20, Pozirk. Belarus uses the Criminal Code article against inciting hatred selectively to repress civil society and the pro-democracy movement, Lawyer Vika Rudziankova said.
According to the Viasna center, at least 778 people have been sentenced under the article since 2020.
The incitement article had been included in the Criminal Code to protect vulnerable groups “based on race, religion, skin color, ethnicity and other characteristics,” Rudziankova said in an explainer on Viasna’s website on Wednesday.
“But in 2021, the term ‘other social groups’ was added to Article 130 of the Criminal Code as the regime defined those whom it does not allow to criticize—itself and its officials,” she said.
Police officers and judges are protected the same way as vulnerable groups, such as ethnic and religious minorities–Poles, Roma, Ukrainians or Muslims, the lawyer stressed.
