On 4 May the upper house of the Belarusian parliament, the Council of the Republic, approved amendments to the Criminal Code introducing the death penalty for attempted acts of terrorism.
Such a controversial law passed through parliament very quickly and without any meaningful discussion - it was adopted by the lower house in two readings on April 27. After the Constitutional Court will check the bill, it should go to Belarusian head of state Alexander Lukashenko for promulgation. The amendments to the Criminal Code will come into force 10 days after the official publication.
Belarus is the only state in Europe that carries out the death penalty. However, until now, the death penalty has been imposed only for the most serious crimes involving the deprivation of human life. Article 67 of the Criminal Code explicitly prohibited the death penalty for attempting to commit a crime or for preparing a crime. Now this rule is changed so that the capital punishment for acts of terrorism will be imposed even for an unfinished act, in the form of an attempt of terrorism.
According to the author MPs, the draft law is aimed to restrain destructive elements of the state, as well as to demonstrate the state's resolute fight against terrorism.
The current Criminal Code provides for the death penalty under terrorism-related articles for:
- committing an act of terrorism against a representative of a foreign state or international organization or murder of a representative of a foreign state or international organization in order to provoke international complications or war or destabilize public order in a foreign state (Part 2 of Article 124);
- committing an act of international terrorism as part of an organized group, or with the use of nuclear energy, radioactive and toxic substances, etc. (Part 3 of Article 126);
- an act of terrorism committed by an organized group, either with the use of a nuclear facility, or with the use of radioactive substances or nuclear materials, strong, toxic chemical or biological substances, or involving the murder of a person (Part 3 of Article 289);
- the murder of a state or public figure, committed with regard to his state or public activity in order to influence decision-making by the authorities, or obstruct political or other public activity, intimidate the population, or destabilize public order (Part 2 of Article 359).
Article 14 of the Criminal Code stipulates that “liability for the attempted crime shall be imposed under the same article of the Special Part of this Code as for the completed crime, with reference to this article”. However, the now-approved law amends Article 67, where the listed articles constitute an exception for which the death penalty can be imposed by the court already for the attempts connected with the causalities of humans.
Since the end of 2020, authorities have listed dozens of Belarusian citizens as involved in terrorism, imposed numerous long prison sentences, and identified a number of organisations as terrorist organisations. According to the Supreme Court, as of February 2022, 7 persons were sentenced for terrorism. However, a human rights CSOs has reported that about 40 persons are charged in proceeding criminal investigation.
Many representatives of the democratic forces and political activists are wanted under “terrorism” charges.
According to media, as of the end of April, more than 60 Belarusians had been detained since February 24 on suspicion of blocking the railway to stop Russian forces going to Ukraine in frame of the Russia-Ukraine war, but the exact number of arrested participants is unknown. At least one from this opened case was on the basis of terrorism.