MINSK, December 8 President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko signed the law on amnesty in the country, previously adopted by both houses of parliament, the press service of the head of state said on Thursday. The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus, Ivan Kubrakov, has previously stated that in general the bill will affect 8495 people.The term for the implementation of the law is six months.
As previously reported in the Belarusian parliament, when implementing the law, it is planned to release 4,545 convicts from various types of punishment, including 1,600 from places of deprivation of liberty (of which 10 are minors), 500 from correctional institutions of an open type, and 2,445 from penitentiary inspections. In addition, it is planned to reduce the sentence of 3,950 convicts by a year.
As noted in the press service, the document was developed on behalf of the head of state. «The law defines the categories of persons subject to exemption from punishment and other measures of criminal liability for crimes that do not pose a great public danger or are classified as less serious,» the message says.
This includes minors; pregnant women; women and single men with children under the age of 18, with the exception of those who have committed a crime against a minor; who have reached the generally established retirement age; disabled people of the 1st and 2nd groups; individual citizens with a number of diseases; veterans of military operations in the territory of other states; victims of the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, other radiation accidents; those who received injuries (concussions), mutilations, diseases during the period of military service or in connection with the performance of official activities.
«It also provides for the release from punishment of persons convicted with a suspension of execution of punishment, with conditional non-application of punishment, without imposition of punishment, sentences for which were decided on the day the law came into force; those sentenced to punishment in the form of arrest, as well as a number of other categories of convicts,»
The amnesty law will not apply to persons who have committed crimes of terrorist or extremist orientation, stressed in the press service. The document also contains a number of other cases in which the amnesty will not be applied. «Traditionally, the application of the law will be carried out only to persons who are positively characterized during the period of serving their sentence, as well as fully compensated for the damage caused by the committed crime,» the message says.