President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko approved the introduction of criminal liability for calls for sanctions against Belarus. This was announced on Tuesday, December 14, by BelTA, citing the press service of the Belarusian leader.
Lukashenko signed the law “On Amendments to the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus”. The law introduces responsibility for calls for the application of sanctions against Belarus, organizations of the country and its citizens.
Those who violate the law will face punishment in the form of imprisonment for up to 12 years. The maximum term of punishment is provided for officials who carried out appeals using their official powers, as well as if the appeals led to grave economic consequences.
Earlier, on December 10, Lukashenka said that the pressure of the West on Belarus would increase, new packages of sanctions are possible. He recalled that Western countries have already introduced the fifth package of sanctions against Minsk. According to him, such economic pressure is needed to “strangle” Belarus, as well as to change the government and the state system.
On December 2, the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom introduced a new package of sanctions against Belarus amid the migration crisis on the country’s border with Poland. The US sanctions list includes 10 individuals, 12 organizations and three aircraft.
In response, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said that the new sanctions against the republic are illegitimate and inhuman in nature due to their negative impact on the life of Belarusians.
The Prime Minister of Belarus, Roman Golovchenko, indicated that an economic war had been unleashed against the country and “absolutely adequate” measures would be taken in response.
In response to the actions of the West, the Belarusian authorities introduced a food embargo on a wide range of goods from the EU, USA, Canada, Norway and other countries from January 1, 2022. The government specified that the decree will not affect goods imported by Belarusians for personal consumption, baby food and a number of other items of critical import.
The situation with migrants worsened in early November. A large group of refugees in Belarus came to the border in a forest belt. Migrants cut barbed wire at the border of the two countries and asked to be allowed into the territory of the European Union. Later, the refugees moved to the logistics center provided by the Belarusian side.
Source: IZ
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
