Aleh Vouchak: Authorities Dread Mass Popular Discontent

The authorities adopted the law on criminal responsibility for “extremism” due to deterioration of the economic situation.

Former investigator of the public prosecutor’s office, chairman of the human rights organization “Legal Assistance to Population” Aleh Vouchak has said this today to charter97.org while commenting the amendments to the law on responsibility for “extremism”, approved and inked by Lukashenka today.

– Now, in addition to the traditional “extremists” – the opposition, the independent media, the volunteer soldiеrs in Ukraine – the authorities could start persecuting those who are dissatisfied with the situation in the country.

Any statements against the officials and the local authorities can be now classified as “extremism”: demands to change or dismiss an official, to perform justice.

Surely, the authorities could press the undesirable citizens before: actually there are no laws in the appropriate sense, the Investigatory Committee follows Lukashenka’s orders. Any person can be sentenced under any article.

For example, the guys who returned from the Ukrainian war: if the authorities fail to prove guilt for “mercenarism” under Article 133, they bring them to court for the found ammunition or “hooliganism”.

Now they adopt the amendments to the law which allow to elaborate the practice of punishment more intensively. This is done in the view of the upcoming “elections”. For example, what is the need for drawing up a separate claim prescribing punishment for “Molotov cocktail” in the law? There are other dangerous explosives. It is not correct when legislation points out a certain type of them. It is clear that all this is connected with the upcoming “elections” – the authorities dread people’s protests. This concerns not only political protests. We are facing the change of money, denomination, soon. In connection with that the authorities fear popular discontent and possible disturbances.

I have just returned from the journey around the regions: there is total absence of jobs and salaries there. In the country, the people remain totally in dire straights. If they start protesting and come to a police department head or to a district administration “with pitchfork”, demanding their salaries – they could be classified as extremists.

– How will these amendments to the law affect the independent press and mass media?

– Even now, we can observe a wide range of repressions against journalists: fines, threats, blackmail, beating. All these happen due to absolute iniquity in the country. Today, they are trying to adjust some “legislative base” to this mayhem. However, the amendments to the law will work for one side only: we will still have no opportunity to claim the authorities’ self-will either in the public prosecutor’s office or in the Investigatory Committee.

Today, you are either an opposition activist or not, a motorcyclist or not, a journalist or not – but you can become an “extremist” tomorrow. As soon as you declare some serious discrepancies with the authorities.