MINSK, 17 May (BelTA) - Providing information support of illegal actions falls within the definition of extremism, political analyst Aleksandr Shpakovsky told the public-political talk show Budni on Alfa Radio, BelTA learned from sb.by.
Last week, the president signed laws to prevent the rehabilitation of Nazism and to amend the laws on countering extremism. Aleksandr Shpakovsky talked about the definition of extremist activity, Nazi symbols. The expert zeroed in on illegal activity on the internet. If people write about harmless topics on the net, they are safe. People must be mindful of what topics they post about and what they call for.
"Here we deal with the interpretation of the concepts of ‘extremist activity', ‘Nazism', ‘its rehabilitation'," Aleksandr Shpakovsky noted. “Extremism is a commitment to extreme views and extreme measures to promote them. Extremist activities involve attacks on the foundations of a state, violent acts aimed at seizing state power, organizing and calling for mass riots. In other words, the information support of such illegal actions also falls under the definition of extremism," he said.
As for extremist symbols, they are defined in the law too. The concept of Nazi symbols has been expanded. “According to the law, Nazi symbols are not only symbols of the Third Reich, but also symbols of collaborationist forces who collaborated with the Nazis during the Great Patriotic War, including in Belarus,” Aleksandr Shpakovsky noted.
He recalled that public display of such symbols, including on the internet may entail criminal or administrative responsibility. This applies to posts on personal accounts in social networks, in various communities (including Telegram channels) and in comments to posts.
