Alyaksandr Lukashenka signed a decree on the establishment of a commission to work with “those who wish to return to their homeland” – it will consider the appeals of Belarusians who have committed offenses and wish to return to Belarus. He said this during a meeting with the country’s Prosecutor General Andrei Shved.
Lukashenka claims that “the authorities a priori are not going to deprive anyone of their freedom” and “everything will be according to the law.” “But we are not going to drag them here by force to put them in jail, as they say, or even to talk to someone, we are not going to. This is our good will, we have demonstrated it. Please contact us, we will consider your applications. If you don’t want to, sit there. If you want – fight, if you want – mark the street. Not everyone can even fight, not everyone will be taken to the front. Mark the street, wash the dishes. Those who are more prepared will serve cartridges in Poland or Lithuania. This is their choice. We do not force anyone and We do not insist on this,” he said.
Andrey Shved said that the commission will cover the period from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2023, it will be possible to apply in writing or electronically. The application will be considered within three months.
In my country blocked
present tense
In early January, Lukashenka said that thousands of people who had left Belarus were asking to come back. According to the human rights center “Viasna”, in Belarus in 2022 and early 2023, at least 58 people were detained who returned to their homeland from abroad. Of these, at least 10 people were sentenced to imprisonment for a term of one to five years in a colony, four people – to “home chemistry” (restriction of freedom without being sent to a correctional institution). Criminal cases have been opened against seven more people.
Most often, Belarusians are detained after returning from Poland or Lithuania. Returning Belarusians are detained for comments on social networks, participation in the 2020 protests in Belarus and solidarity actions abroad.
