MINSK, 16 April (BelTA) – The bill on preventing the rehabilitation of Nazism has passed the second reading at the session of the seventh-convocation House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus, BelTA has learned.
The bill on preventing rehabilitation of Nazism was brought in by the Council of Ministers and was given the first reading on 2 April. The bill legislates the terms “Nazi criminals”, “accomplices of Nazi criminals” and stipulates entities in charge of counteracting the rehabilitation of Nazism for the first time. Law enforcement agencies are supposed to be responsible for coordinating the work of these entities.
The bill was drawn up taking into account norms of the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly model law on the inadmissibility of actions to rehabilitate Nazism, glorify Nazi criminals and their accomplices. The bill clearly prohibits glorification of Nazism, its financing, operation of organizations that advocate glorification of Nazism, including foreign organizations and including on the internet.
The bill lays down the main areas of preventive work against Nazism rehabilitation. Mass media will be monitored to prevent the rehabilitation of Nazism. Measures to counteract the rehabilitation of Nazism are stipulated, including official warnings and orders, suspension of operation, prohibition to operate, the shutdown of extremist organizations. A separate article of the bill is dedicated to the counteraction of rehabilitation of Nazism by means of immortalizing memory of the fallen.
“The bill is meant to become a comprehensive legal regulation on preventing Nazism rehabilitation and a reliable political, legal, and moral barrier in the way of those who spread Nazism ideas, rehabilitate Nazi criminals and their accomplices,” Deputy Chairwoman of the Standing Commission on Human Rights, National Relations and Mass Media Lilia Ananich said as she presented the bill.
In the process to finalize the document ahead of the second reading, MPs added the principle of preserving the historical memory and preventing distortion of history to the list of principles of on preventing the rehabilitation of Nazism. The Culture Ministry and the National Academy of Sciences were included in the list of entities in charge of counteracting the rehabilitation of Nazism. The provisions of the bill related to the ban on propaganda and public campaigning, including with the help of the internet or any other information network, production and distribution of Nazi symbols and attributes as well as their possession and purchase with the aim of distribution were laid down with account of exclusions set forth in the legislation on administrative offences.
