- Alina Isachenko
- BBC Russian Service, London
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The House of Representatives of the Belarusian Parliament adopted in two readings a bill introducing the death penalty for attempted terrorist acts.
According to the deputies, the draft law will allow “deterring destructive elements” and demonstrate “the state’s resolute struggle against terrorist activities.”
Lawyers believe that the innovation will help bring more political cases under the article, which provides for the death penalty – the Belarusian authorities interpret the concept of “terrorism” as broadly as possible.
The bill proposes amendments to part 1 of article 59 (“Death penalty”) and part 2 of article 67 (“Sentencing for an unfinished crime”) of the Criminal Code of Belarus.
In the current version of the law, an exceptional measure of punishment is provided for violation of part 3 of article 289 (“Act of terrorism”). We are talking about the commission of terrorist acts (including explosion, arson and flooding) by a group of persons “with the use of nuclear facilities, or with the use of radioactive substances or nuclear materials … or biological substances, or associated with the murder of a person.”
The minimum term under this article is from eight to 15 years in prison. The death penalty in Belarus cannot be imposed on women, people under the age of majority and men over 65 years of age.
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In Belarus, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya is accused, among other things, of terrorism
The authorities began to apply the article on terrorism against opponents of the Lukashenka regime after the 2020 presidential elections.
In March last year, the Prosecutor General’s Office of Belarus opened a criminal case under the article on preparing an act of terrorism against the leader of the democratic forces Svetlana Tikhanovskaya and the community of former Bypol security officials who left the country.
The list of those involved in terrorist activities of the KGB includes blogger Anton Motolko, head of the People’s Anti-Crisis Administration Pavel Latushko and other representatives of democratic forces.
One of the last to be detained under the article “Act of terrorism” were the so-called “rail partisans”, who are suspected of sabotage on the railway (we are talking about disrupting the operation of trains on the territory of Belarus after the start of the war in Ukraine – this initiative was supported by the Belarusian opposition).
On January 20 of this year, under the same article, Ruslan Slutsky, a resident of Novopolotsk, was sentenced to 11 years in prison, who was accused of throwing hedgehogs (metal nails) along the route of the pro-government rally.
Execution for the terrorist attack in the Minsk metro
Belarus is the only country in Europe where the death penalty continues to be applied. The majority supported its retention in a 1996 referendum. Since then, human rights organizations have called for the measure to be repealed, but a referendum on the issue has never been held again.
Terrorist attack in Minsk metro: why, 10 years later, not everyone believes the results of the investigation?
One of the most resonant cases of the death penalty was the case of the explosion in the Minsk metro on April 11, 2011.
The suspects in the execution of the attack – 25-year-old Dmitry Konovalov and Vladislav Kovalev – were found a day after the explosion. Six months later, the Supreme Court found Konovalov and Kovalev guilty and sentenced them to death. The organizers of the explosion and the motives were never established.
image copyrightAttila Husejnow/SOPA Images
“Bill to intimidate citizens”
Belarusian lawyer Mikhail Kirilyuk believes that this bill has nothing to do with jurisprudence: its meaning is to intimidate citizens.
“We have only political people on the KGB list of those involved in terrorism: Latushko, Tikhanovskaya, Motolko,” Kirilyuk, who left the country amid protests, tells the BBC. “We see that the article “terrorism” is not used to prosecute real terrorists, but rather to persecute political opponents of the regime.”
“This is dictated by the desire to show people that if they really want to, they can even stage a terrorist attack and apply the death penalty to you,” Kirilyuk continues. “Thus, laws are adopted not to regulate society, but to legalize the forcible retention of power.”
Lawyer of the Viasna Human Rights Center Pavel Sapelko calls the bill a new step in “improving repressive legislation.”
“The death penalty is already possible not only in the case of a completed crime from the list, but also for an attempt, that is, when a deliberate action or inaction of a person was committed, but the crime was not completed due to circumstances beyond the control of this person,” he says. Sapelko.
“Given the boundlessness of fantasies and provocative skills of the special services, the thin line between preparation and attempt, we will definitely witness cases being sent to court in which the death penalty has become possible with the new norms,” the lawyer adds.
