Belarus expands death penalty law
BELARUS had introduced the death penalty for attempts to carry out acts of terrorism, Russian news agencies reported yesterday, charges that several opposition activists face in the ex-Soviet country.
Belarus – a close ally of Russia that has supported its military offensive in Ukraine – is the only country in Europe that continues to carry out executions despite calls for a moratorium.
“Lukashenko signed a law on the possibility of the death penalty for an attempted terrorist act,” the RIA Novosti news agency reported, citing an online government portal.
It said the law would come into force 10 days after its publication.
Two years ago, Belarus faced protests against the re-election of strongman leader Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled the country with an iron fist for more than two decades.
Thousands of activists were arrested in the crackdown and the leaders of the opposition movement are now either jailed or in exile.
Among them was Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, a political novice who ran against Lukashenko in the August 2020 polls in place of her jailed husband. She now leads the Belarusian
opposition from exile in Lithuania, while her husband Sergei Tikhanovsky is serving 18 years in jail on what supporters believe are politically motivated charges.
Last March, Belarusian prosecutors charged Tikhanovskaya in absentia with “preparing acts of terrorism as part of an organised group”.
Yesterday, she denounced the decision of the “lawless regime” to expand the use of the death penalty, saying it targeted anti-government activists.
“This is a direct threat to activists opposing the dictator and the war,” Tikhanovskaya tweeted. “I urge the international community to react.”
Belarus and its leadership are already under a litany of Western sanctions over its handling of the opposition
protest and over its support for Moscow’s campaign in Ukraine.
But many opposition activists remain behind bars in Belarus awaiting trial.
Yesterday, a Belarusian court in the city of Grodno started a closed-door hearing in the case against 12 activists accused of “preparing acts of terrorism”, according to Belarusian rights group Vyasna.
Capital punishment in Belarus, carried out by shooting, is highly secret and there are no statistics.
The last known death sentence in Belarus was carried out against Victor Pavlov, who was arrested in January 2019 on suspicion of murder and larceny, according to the UN Human Rights Committee.