MINSK, 27 February (BelTA) – The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus and other stakeholders are negotiating the amnesty bill, BelTA learned from the website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
“Upon the instruction of the head of state, the Ministry of Internal Affairs in collaboration with other interested parties is working on the amnesty bill timed to the 75th anniversary of Belarus' liberation from Nazi invaders. Positive social and economic developments have brought about some improvements with the crime situation in the country. As experience suggests, amnesties do not have a considerable negative impact on the situation with law and order in the country,” the ministry noted.
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, many countries, including Belarus, have a tradition to declare amnesties in the run-up to some important dates. This enhances social importance of these dates and serves to emphasize the humane nature of the law enforcement policy of the state. The amnesty will benefit not only convicts, but also their relatives, many of who are veterans of war and labor, and elderly people who need assistance and care.
Belarus declared amnesty 14 times from 1991 to 2015. “Over 7,900 people serving a prison term and over 1,900 convicts kept in open-type institutions could apply for the amnesty formalized by the law “On amnesty on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945” as of 28 May 2015. As a result, over 2,500 people were exonerated; the prison time was cut by one year for over 2,800 convicts. Other petitions were rejected,” the ministry noted.
