August 8, Pozirk. Alaksandar Łukašenka has introduced a bill to the House of Representatives to ease punishment for drug-related crimes under Article 328 of the Criminal Code, his press office reported.
The bill proposes a more lenient punishment – a jail term of up to three months – for drug possession, and restricted freedom sentences for one count of illicit drug sale.
Possession is punishable by a restricted freedom sentence of up to five years or a prison sentence of two to five years under Part 1 of Article 328 currently in force.
A single count of sale is punishable by five to eight years in prison under Part 2 of the same article.
The legislation would also reduce from 10 years to eight years the minimum sentence for drug sale as part of an organized group.
The move comes as a big surprise because officials have recently rejected proposals from Mothers 328, a group that has campaigned for many years for leniency for people convicted of drug-related offenses.
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