Belarus introduced criminal liability for calls for sanctions

President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko signed a law criminalizing calls for sanctions against the state, citizens and organizations, the BelTA state agency reports with reference to the presidential press service.

The adopted amendments provide for punishment of up to six, up to ten and up to 12 years in prison. So, up to six years in prison can be given if calls for sanctions are addressed to "ordinary persons", BelTA writes. Up to ten years - if they are addressed to foreign states, international and foreign organizations. Up to 12 years - if such appeals were made by an official using his official powers or led, for example, to restricting trade, including enterprises in the sanctions list.

The idea of ​​responsibility for calls for sanctions was discussed back in the spring. In May, during a meeting in parliament, Lukashenka called such a measure "very necessary for our country." “If you make a proposal on responsibility for calls for sanctions at my level or in parliament, I guarantee that it will be accepted,” he said at the time.

The corresponding bill was submitted to the lower house (House of Representatives) of the National Assembly of Belarus at the end of September. In early October, the deputies adopted it in the first reading. “Life is changing, approaches are changing, wars are changing. You see, they become hybrid. Therefore, accordingly, the criminal law should also change. And people who call for such things should bear responsibility for this and should understand that the punishment will be irreversible, ”Oleg Belokonev, chairman of the standing committee on national security of the House of Representatives, said at the time.