Belarus president changes death penalty law to target opposition
Belarus has introduced the death penalty for planning an attack or "attempting an act of terrorism", according to a decree issued Wednesday — charges that target many opposition activists, including its exiled leader.
"Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has signed the law providing on the possibility of the death penalty for an attempted act of terrorism,” according to the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti. Until now, only those who were found guilty of committing such an act could face the firing squad.
The law is supposed to come into force in 10 days.
According to another Russian state agency, Interfax, the text notes that no "preparation or attempt" of a crime is punishable by death except for those qualified as "terrorists".
Belarus, a former Soviet republic allied with Russia, is the last country in Europe still to apply the death penalty. The country carries out several executions each year.
The latest change to the law was in preparation ever since the Lukashenko administration was hit by a wave of sabotage acts by activists, who attempted to take out parts of the country's railroad network to make it harder for Russia to deploy forces in Ukraine.
Russia used Belarus as a staging ground to launch its 24 February invasion of Ukraine. Minsk denies involvement in the conflict but acknowledges that its territory was used by Russian forces.
Lukashenko is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and his administration is one of the few in Europe to have not introduced any sanctions against the Kremlin since its renewed aggression in February.
He has also been subject to EU and US sanctions for his tacit support of the war in Ukraine, but also his authoritarian rule and violent suppression of democracy.
Sinc
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