Lukashenko emphasizes the inadmissibility of oversimplification when amending criminal legislation

August 8, Minsk /BELTA/. Amendments to the criminal and criminal procedure legislation must in no case create conditions for evading responsibility. This was stated by President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko on August 7 at a meeting on a draft law providing for comprehensive amendments to the criminal and criminal procedure legislation, BELTA was informed by the press service of the Belarusian leader.

The draft of this law was discussed in August last year. In particular, it concerned the application of pre-trial cooperation agreements, the introduction of criminal legal compensation, and the exclusion of the unlawfulness of an act in case of business risk. It was also proposed to decriminalize certain acts that do not pose a significant public danger, expand the application of fines and increase their amount for economic crimes, and make a number of other changes.

At the same time, the President instructed the deputies, together with law enforcement agencies, as well as with the business community, to further discuss the draft in detail. Then, to make a final, balanced decision on all its provisions, fully meeting the interests of the state, society, and citizens.

As Alexander Lukashenko emphasized during the meeting, possible amendments to the criminal law should not lead to the emasculation of the very essence of the law. With any changes, its norms should preserve the necessary preventive effect and at the same time have a proper punitive impact on the offender, if the crime could not be avoided.

The Head of State stressed that the principle of the inevitability of punishment for committed crimes must remain inviolable. "All possible changes to criminal legal mechanisms can, in one way or another, develop or supplement this principle, but in no case create conditions for criminals to evade responsibility," Alexander Lukashenko noted. "We have no right to tolerate impunity."

According to the Head of State, the proper organisation of criminal proceedings is of no less importance. "Investigations that drag on for a long time without significant results should not be perceived as something commonplace and normal," the President demanded. "Prosecutors, investigators, and courts must have in their arsenal such modern legal tools that can ensure prompt and objective investigation and consideration of criminal cases."

Alexander Lukashenko inquired whether the proposed innovations, designed to solve pressing problems in law enforcement practice, would not in fact become a loophole for dishonest people, particularly in the case of introducing a pre-trial cooperation agreement mechanism. According to its terms, a criminal would have to report on the crimes of others to reduce their sentence. "However, questions immediately arise: will criminals not flood investigative bodies with 'tales' about imaginary accomplices? Will they not slander anyone to save their own skin? Will such an agreement not become a way for particularly dangerous criminal elements to avoid strict, deserved responsibility?" Alexander Lukashenko noted. "And let's be frank: are we confident in our law enforcement officers, in the fact that they will apply such an agreement strictly for legal purposes? And not for their own enrichment, receiving 'kickbacks' when concluding cooperation agreements for the perfectly legal mitigation of criminals' fate."

The meeting also considered measures of responsibility not related to isolation from society, such as fines and criminal legal compensation. "We are actively promoting them in this draft. But is there a guarantee that these measures will be applied precisely to those who deserve leniency, who are indeed better punished financially rather than by imprisonment?" the President asked a reasonable question. He also inquired whether financial impact instead of a real sentence could ensure the correction of these individuals and whether such concessions should be introduced for all types of crimes that are being adjusted by the draft in the relevant part.

"We must clearly understand the answers to all these questions and have firm confidence in the correctness of the vector for improving criminal and criminal procedure legislation set by the draft," Alexander Lukashenko emphasised.

The Head of State was briefed in detail on the main innovations of the bill, proposed approaches to improving the system of criminal liability measures and the procedure for their application. Regarding the mechanism of pre-trial cooperation agreements, the President was assured that it would provide additional opportunities in the fight against offenses in areas such as corruption or drug trafficking, where it is important to identify all links in the criminal chain. The bill also provides for several degrees of control over the effectiveness of such an agreement and whether the accused truly deserves a milder court sentence.

At the same time, Alexander Lukashenko focused on several fundamental points. The President noted, in particular, that the conclusion of pre-trial cooperation agreements should not excessively restrict the powers of the courts and effectively lower part of the judicial investigation to the prosecutor's level. On the other hand, a criminal deserving the harshest punishment for a grave or particularly grave crime committed by him should not be able to evade responsibility with the help of such an agreement. "Even if he tells about a dozen other crimes, but if, for example, he raped and stabbed a girl, there should be no forgiveness for him. He must be held accountable. And to understand me, try to put yourself in the position of those parents (victims of crime)," the Head of State emphasized.

The President also suggested that if pre-trial cooperation agreements are used only to work on specific types of offenses, then perhaps they should be clearly defined so as not to leave this issue to the personal discretion of the prosecutor.

Alexander Lukashenko explained that he assesses all the innovations proposed by the bill from the perspective of their necessity in relation to the current situation and the development of legal relations in Belarus.

"Yes, not everything is fine with us. We are still lagging behind in some areas, but we are not Ukraine, not Russia, and not even the West. Our law enforcement agencies are working more or less strictly. I cannot say that the principle of the inevitability of punishment works worse here than in other countries," the Belarusian leader noted. - At the same time, during Lukashenko's "dictatorship," the number of prisoners has halved compared to "democratic times." This means that we are quite successfully fighting crimes with our legislation, and no one can accuse us of imprisoning everyone."

The Head of State also emphasized that the effectiveness of any legislation largely depends on the personal attitude of personnel, primarily the heads of law enforcement agencies and supervisory bodies, towards solving specific tasks. According to the Head of State's assessment, the performance of the heads of several relevant agencies does not fully meet his expectations, which often compels the President to personally intervene in resolving issues related to the observance of legality and law and order in the country.

Following the meeting, the President instructed to present him with a concise and clear comparative analysis of the proposed amendments to the most important articles. "But I want to say again that we must not oversimplify. Under no circumstances," stressed Alexander Lukashenko. "We have too many violations, especially in the sphere of corruption, where we need to intensify the fight, and we are also considering novelties there, and regarding serious economic crimes. We are losing a lot of money here." -0-

News of Belarus (BELTA)