Belarus allows opening criminal cases against deceased people

Medusa reported the information.

The outlet notes that the bill amends the article of the Criminal Code on circumstances that exclude criminal proceedings. According to it, it will be possible to initiate cases against deceased people under articles on crimes that do not have a statute of limitations, such as preparation or conduct of a war of aggression, terrorism, genocide, ecocide, violation of the laws and customs of war.

Families will be able to represent the interests of the deceased person in court. To do so, they must submit a corresponding application. If the family decide not to participate in the trial or cannot be found, the interests of the accused will be represented by an appointed lawyer.

The BelTA outlet clarifies that the amendments to the Criminal Code were prepared by the Prosecutor General's Office, which has been conducting "research into the circumstances of the genocide of the Belarusian people during the Great Patriotic War and the post-war period" since 2021 in order to identify those involved in the genocide and prosecute them.

The law will come into force after it is approved by the upper house of parliament and signed by Alexander Lukashenko.

• In early June, self-proclaimed President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said that the "Ukrainian issue" should have been resolved in 2014-2015, when Kyiv allegedly did not have a combat-ready army.

• On May 25, the defense ministers of Russia and Belarus signed a document on the deployment of Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. On June 14, Lukashenko said that Belarus had already begun receiving nuclear weapons from Russia, although Putin said that Russia would deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus after July 7-8, when the necessary facilities would be prepared.