Lukashenko signed a law on amnesty in connection with the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory
President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko signed the law "On Amnesty in connection with the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War". This was reported to BELTA by the press service of the head of state.
On the eve of the Great Victory holiday, the adoption of this law signifies the manifestation of humanism in Belarusian society, striving for the resocialization of guilty persons.
For the majority of convicts, the main conditions for applying the amnesty established by law are full compensation for harm (damage) caused by the crime, as well as a positive characteristic during the period of serving the sentence.
The law provides for the release from punishment and other measures of criminal liability, or mitigation of punishment for committing crimes that do not pose a great public danger or are less serious, for a number of categories of convicts.
These include minors, pregnant women, women and single men with children under 18 years of age, disabled persons of groups I and II, persons affected by the Chernobyl disaster, as well as those who sustained injuries or illnesses during military service or service in paramilitary organizations, and others.
For convicts sentenced to restriction or deprivation of liberty who do not fully fall under the amnesty, the sentence term will be partially reduced by 1 year.
The law also provides for a number of innovations. Thus, the list of persons fully released from punishment and other measures of criminal liability is supplemented by a new category of persons with certain diseases. For persons not previously convicted, who have reached the age of 70 and are sentenced to imprisonment for up to 6 years inclusive, the punishment is replaced by a milder one in the form of restriction of liberty without being sent to an open-type correctional institution. Instead of full amnesty, partial amnesty is established in the form of a 1-year reduction of punishment for persons convicted of negligent crimes that resulted in death.
According to preliminary estimates, the amnesty will affect almost 8,000 convicts.
The law enters into force from the date of its official publication.