The new law also prevents opposition leaders who have fled abroad from standing as candidates in the presidential elections.
Simo Ortamo,
Yrjö Kokkonen
Autocratically leading Belarus Alexander Lukashenko has signed a law that protects him from criminal charges for the rest of his life.
In addition to immunity from prosecution, Lukashenko and his family members will receive state security services, health care, and health and life insurance for the rest of their lives. When the 69-year-old Lukashenko eventually gives up the presidency, he will become a lifelong member of the upper house of the Belarusian parliament.
According to the law, the state will also give Lukashenko an apartment after the presidential term, says the independent news site Novaya Gazeta Europe.
The law prevents those who have fled abroad from running for president
The law also limits who can become the country’s president. Only persons who have lived permanently in Belarus for 20 years and have not had a residence permit in another country can become candidates.
In practice, the law prevents opposition members who have fled the country from standing as presidential candidates.
For example, the leader of the opposition Svyatlana Tsihanouskayaconsidered by the opposition to be the real winner of the 2020 presidential election, fled to Lithuania that same year.
According to the opposition, the law does not protect Lukashenko
According to Tsihanouskaja, the new law shows that Lukashenko is afraid of his future, i.e. a situation where he would give up power.
– Lukashenko, who destroyed the fate of thousands of Belarusians, will be punished according to international law, and no immunity from prosecution will protect him from it. It’s only a matter of time, Tsihanouskaja commented.
Thousands of Belarusians have fled abroad from tyranny and torture in the police force after the 2020 elections. There are still at least 1,500 political prisoners in the country, one of whom is a Nobel laureate Ales Byalyatsky.
Source: AP