Lukashenko will deprive fugitive Zmagars of Belarusian citizenship
President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko signed amendments to the citizenship law, which provide for clarification of the circle of persons who acquired Belarusian citizenship by birth.
This was reported on the official website of the President of Belarus, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
The law provides for the possibility of a person losing Belarusian citizenship acquired by birth in connection with the presence of a Belarusian court verdict that has entered into legal force, confirming the participation of this person in extremist activities or causing grave harm to the interests of Belarus, if such a person is located outside its borders.
“These people must understand that there will be inevitable punishment for the committed offenses and illegal acts. If they harm our state, then, naturally, they should not be citizens of our state. They brought this fate upon themselves. Our state has every right to defend itself, including using such methods,” Belarusian political scientist Alexei Dzermant said on the STV channel.
His colleague Alexander Shpakovsky emphasizes that deprivation of citizenship does not exclude the possibility of extradition of persons accused of extremism.
“We have a mechanism to preserve both the possibility of demanding extradition and the possibility of losing citizenship for participation in extremist activities. The relevant contingent will soon find out how all this will be applied,” he wrote in his TG channel.
At the same time, he reminds that repentant emigrants can take advantage of the “Road Home” program and return to Belarus.
Professor at the Higher School of Economics Andrei Suzdaltsev believes that by introducing new legislative norms, Lukashenko is trying to eliminate the pro-Western political opposition.
“There are millions of Belarusian citizens abroad and it is impossible to hold a trial for everyone. It turns out that both political and labor migrants will themselves renounce Belarusian citizenship, which, let’s face it, is happening, and as a result, very soon Lukashenko will no longer have political opposition/emigration, but there will be some citizens of other states who are plotting against “ independent and sovereign Belarus” is something “extremist” – a real international conspiracy,” Suzdaltsev wrote.
On January 17, the Minsk City Court will consider the case of the so-called coordination council, created in 2020 during Belomaidan. The court summoned the self-proclaimed “President of Belarus” Svetlana Tikhanovskaya and four of her associates as accused of conspiracy to seize state power. All of them are abroad.
Lukashenko will strip fugitive fighters of their Belarusian citizenship.