MOSCOW —
Belarus has introduced the death penalty for attempts to carry out acts of
terrorism, Russian news agencies reported Wednesday, 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.
اضافة اعلان
“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
for legal information. It said the law would come into force 10 days after its
publication.
Two years ago,
Belarus faced historic protests against the re-election of strongman leader
Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled the country with an iron fist for over two
decades. Thousands of activists were arrested in the crackdown and the key
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 organized group”, according to Belarusian state news
agency Belta. Tikhanovskaya denounced Wednesday the decision of the “lawless
regime” to expand the use of the death penalty, saying it targeted
anti-government activists.
‘Political
killings’
“This is a
direct threat to activists opposing the dictator and the war,” Tikhanovskaya
tweeted. “I urge the international community to react: sanction lawmakers and
consider any tools to prevent the political killings,” she added.
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.
On Wednesday, 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. Among them is veteran activist Nikolai
Avtukhovich, who has already served more than seven years in jail. The
59-year-old faces a litany of other charges, including treason. The activists
are accused of setting a policeman’s home and car on fire, and burning another
policeman’s car in the autumn of 2020.
Capital
punishment in Belarus, carried out by shooting, is highly secret and there are
no official 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.
The committee
had called for his execution to be halted while it examined his allegations of
torture in detention but said in a statement in March that his family had been
informed it had taken place, without any information about when he was
executed.
Pavlov was the 15th
person executed in Belarus since 2010 while their case was still pending before
the committee, it said.
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