“The tsar ordered the sea to be flogged.” What is wrong with the authorities’ initiative on “in absentia” criminal punishment

At the next meeting of the Security Council, it is proposed to consider an initiative by the Investigative Committee on bringing citizens to criminal liability “in absentia.”

This was reported by State Secretary of the Security Council Alexander Volfovich.
“The principle of the inevitability of criminal punishment for a committed crime was not being fulfilled.

A person committed a crime here, left, and now lives calmly abroad.

At the request of the law-enforcement bloc, for political reasons they are not extradited from there,” Alexander Volfovich complained.

It is proposed to introduce amendments to the law so that criminal liability can be imposed.

A court will issue a sentence in absentia, imposing one punishment or another depending on the seriousness of the offense.

UDF (https://udf.name/) asked experts what consequences this initiative may have.
“People already understand that they cannot come to the country, even without any sentence”
Andrei Kazakevich, director of the Political Sphere Institute and doctor of political science, noted in a comment to UDF (https://udf.name/) that the authorities are trying to put more pressure on political opponents.

Photo: svaboda.org
“And security officials and bureaucrats are only happy about this, because they build careers on such initiatives, devising ever new mechanisms for controlling civil society and the opposition, as well as punishing those who opposed the current authorities,” Kazakevich said.

It is often said that the opposition abroad has no real influence on the situation in Belarus.

So how does it interfere with the regime?
“In fact, the opposition has considerable influence on the situation inside Belarus.

The level of support for and trust in opposition leaders remains high, and a significant segment of Belarusian society is oriented toward democratic forces, even though they operate from abroad,” Kazakevich noted.

In his opinion, the new initiative may indeed be implemented.

Unlike some other initiatives that came from only one agency, in this case it is declared that the idea is supported by several structures.
“At the same time, it should be taken into account that formalizing such an initiative will require changes to a whole body of legal norms.

So this process is unlikely to be quick,” Kazakevich believes.

Will the initiative force people abroad to fall silent and curtail their activity?
“I do not think so.

It may rather become an element of symbolic revenge against the opponents of the authorities than a serious deterrent.

Criminal cases have already been opened against people, and they already understand that they cannot come to the country, even without any sentence,” Kazakevich believes.

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