The president of Belarus, Alexandr Lukashenkois seeking to protect his future if he leaves power, with an amendment to the penal code that includes sentences of between three and eight years in prison for people who use violence or threaten to do so against a former president or members of his family, according to local media.
The bill was submitted by Lukashenko to the Belarusian parliament, according to opposition website Zerkalo.
Currently, libel and slander against the president and former presidents are punishable in Belarus.
The news comes amid statements by the president about a possible change of power in the country.
On Sunday, Lukashenko said that Belarusians should “get used to” having a new president in the future.
“I’m not saying I’m going to leave them tomorrow or the day after, but anything can happen in life. They have to get used to the fact that I’m not eternal.”he indicated.
Lukashenko, a 69-year-old former collective farm director, came to power on July 20, 1994, establishing an authoritarian system in which the KGB intelligence agency – Belarus is the only former Soviet republic where it has retained its name – repressed any hint of dissent.
The Belarusian opposition accuses the president of ceding the country’s sovereignty to Russia in exchange for perpetuating themselves in power.
Despite the fact that the West does not recognize him as a legitimate president after the 2020 fraud, Lukashenko has said in the past that he intended to run for re-election in 2025. EFE (I)
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