In Belarus, the death penalty is introduced for officials and the military “to avoid a coup”

The expert is convinced that any disloyal civil servant can theoretically fall under the article

In Belarus, they intend to introduce the death penalty for treason for officials and the military. The country’s parliament adopted in the first reading the draft law “On amendments to the codes in matters of criminal liability”. So far, crimes under this article are punishable by imprisonment for a term of 10 to 20 years.

Belarus is the only country in Europe and the CIS where the death penalty has not been abolished. Over the period from 1990 to 2020, over 400 convicts were shot in the country, while only two cases of pardon are known.

Under current law, the death penalty is imposed for the following crimes: “initiating or waging an aggressive war, killing a representative of a foreign state with the aim of provoking international complications, using weapons of mass destruction, terrorism, genocide and crimes against the security of mankind, as well as killing a police officer.” This spring, the list was expanded with an amendment “for attempted acts of terrorism”.

The purpose of the preparation of the new project was “demonstration of a resolute struggle against treason against the state,” the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic said in a statement. In addition to officials, military personnel also fall under this amendment. Moreover, both conscripts and reservists, and simply those liable for military service, if they are at special training camps.

About how this measure will be implemented in practice, “MK” talked with Analyst of the Belarusian Institute for Strategic Studies (BISS) Vadim Mozheikabout.

– Formally, all government officials and military personnel fall under the article. I would say that this measure is rather political and aimed at preventing a split in the elites. This shows how non-monolithic these structures are.

Not all officials in the country believe that Belarus is moving in the right direction. The law is needed so that they understand: in case of attempts to split, they risk their lives.

What exactly can be considered treason?

– It can be anything. Today in the country any person can be attributed to extremism, treason and make him an enemy of the people. If an official feels disloyal to the authorities, then he may well feel such a threat.

Will this measure be implemented or will it remain just a control tool?

– It’s hard to say. Belarus uses the death penalty, but so far there have been no examples of its political use. But the threat remains a threat.

– Among the people executed for all the time there was not a single political figure?

There are examples of political assassinations in the country. Yuri Zakharenko, Anatoly Krasovsky, Viktor Gonchar, Dmitry Zavadsky – four people disappeared at the turn of the 2000s, but formally these are disappearances that have not been officially disclosed. Usually the death penalty is used against murderers. To shoot an opposition leader – this has never happened.