“Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has signed a law stipulating the possibility of the death penalty for an attempted terrorist act,” Ria Novosti said.
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Belarus is the only country in Europe where the death penalty has not been abolished. At present, there is a threat of execution for committing terrorist acts in which someone dies, for brutal or multiple murders.
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According to the Naše Niva website, it has not yet been possible to impose the death penalty in preparation for and attempted a crime. The country carries out several executions by shooting each year.
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Step on activists
The current change in the law has been in preparation since Lukashenko’s government was hit by a wave of sabotage by activists who tried to decommission part of the country’s rail network to make it more difficult for Russia to deploy during its invasion of Ukraine.
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Belarusian police have accused some saboteurs of terrorism, notes Euronews. Many opponents of the regime have accused and arrested Lukashenko’s authorities of terrorism or its preparation.
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Last year, the Belarusian prosecutor’s office announced an investigation into the “preparation of an organized terrorist act” of the Belarusian opposition leader and presidential candidate in the last Belarusian election, Sviatlana Cichanouska, who lives in exile. Other members of the opposition are also being prosecuted. Many opposition officials have been sentenced to prison for many years.
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Since the mass protests against the rigged presidential election in 2020, which Lukashenko has lost according to independent estimates but remains in power, the human rights situation in the country has deteriorated dramatically. According to Vyasna, 1204 political prisoners are currently being held.
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