This unaltered story [1] was originally published on OpenDemocracy.org.
License [2]: Creative Commons 4.0 - Attributions/No Derivities/Int'l.
------------------------

Lukashenka regime expands death penalty to target opposition

By:   []

Date: 2022-05 

A campaign of mass political repression has been going on in Belarus for almost two years now. The scale is unprecedented: there are now more than 1,200 political prisoners, and the authorities have initiated over 5,000 criminal cases related to politics since the country’s contested presidential election in August 2020.

Yet, the Belarusian authorities’ level of cruelty continues to grow – now, opponents of the regime of President Alexander Lukashenka can be threatened not only with Stalinist prison terms, but with the death penalty.

Death penalty for ‘attempted terrorism’

Belarus is the only country in Europe that still has the death penalty, and more than 400 people have been executed since 1991. Until now, execution has been reserved for only the most violent crimes; the authorities have never sought it for political opponents.

But since the 2020 protests, which were a significant challenge to the Lukashenka regime, the situation has changed. The authorities began to spin propaganda around the threat of “terrorism” – to discredit the protests and intimidate society. On 17 May, Lukashenka signed new amendments that introduce the death penalty for terrorism offences, including an “attempted” act of terrorism.

Get our free Daily Email Get one whole story, direct to your inbox every weekday. Sign up now

This paves the way for further retribution against political opponents. The authorities have opened several investigations into alleged terrorism offences by opposition leaders Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and Pavel Latushka, prominent bloggers Stsiapan Putsila and Anton Motolko, and former security service personnel who have turned against the regime.

All the above are currently in exile in Lithuania or Poland, and therefore largely not at risk, but people who have remained in Belarus now face even harsher consequences for resistance.
[END]

[1] Url: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/odr/belarus-opposition-repression-death-penalty-terrorism/
[2] url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/
    
OpenDemocracy via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/opendemocracy/