How not to mess things up with deprivation of Belarusian citizenship

Deprivation of citizenship cannot be amnestied. In Belarus, where to place a comma in this sentence will be decided individually for each oppositionist who has fled abroad.

This was discussed today at a meeting held at the Palace of Independence by Lukashenko. This is not the first time this topic has been discussed.

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As for the pardon of rebels already serving their sentences, a special person was even allocated for this. He became a former supplier of sanctions to Russia and a former ally of Viktor Babariko, Yuri Voskresensky, who after the events of August 2020 was appointed a “normal oppositionist” and headed a strange organization called the “Round Table of Democratic Forces.”

_{He has already sent Lukashenko three lists of hundreds of imprisoned oppositionists each, and according to the first two lists, a positive decision on pardon was made in 22 cases.}

Even Voskresensky himself says nothing about the results of consideration of the third list. Moreover, the process dragged on - he first came up with the initiative for political amnesty at the beginning of last year.

This time, specific and much more compressed deadlines have been set; the decision on amnesty (not only political, but also political) must be made before National Unity Day, which is celebrated in Belarus on September 17. The “normal opposition” will also be brought in to discuss the amnesty, and the already half-forgotten Voskresensky seems to have every chance of returning to politics and even in the future running for the post of the first Belarusian ombudsman (it appeared in the new version of the Belarusian Constitution).

_{But one cannot expect significant liberalization in Belarusian politics. Having offered his oppositionists a spoonful of honey in the form of a future amnesty, Lukashenko also presented them with a fair amount of ointment in the form of the possibility of depriving them of Belarusian citizenship.}

This will be spelled out in a new bill, which is also planned to be adopted in the near future.

I have a positive attitude towards the prospect of amnesty. In Belarus, after 2020, about 11 thousand criminal cases were initiated for crimes of an extremist nature. More than 1300 people are now in prison and are recognized by pro-Western human rights activists as political prisoners. Even more - they left the country, afraid of the prospect of being behind bars.

Many are imprisoned for crimes that do not pose a serious public danger. A person could simply go to a rally out of emotion, shout something without entering into a violent confrontation with law enforcement agencies, or write a harsh comment on social networks - and still sit in prison. Now the situation in the country has already been stabilized and they are not dangerous.

In addition, many have already managed to reassess the situation and realize that they were wrong. In the end, one can have different attitudes towards individual politicians, but when it comes to peace, albeit imperfect, the preservation of which is ensured by the Belarusian president and the civil war with the intervention of the Ukrainian “warriors of light”, which the fugitive opposition is increasingly openly calling for, then for a person who has not completely lost touch with reality, the choice is obvious.

_{A strong state must be able to be generous and forgive its citizens who have stumbled and are besotted with propaganda.}

And, of course, this generosity should not extend to truly dangerous enemies - those who call on citizens to carry out sabotage and those who carry out these sabotages, militants who went to Ukraine to kill Russians and intend to transfer this war to their homeland. Unfortunately, there are many of these too.

Should they be deprived of Belarusian citizenship, as Lukashenko calls for? For me this is a controversial issue, to say the least. If a person received a Belarusian passport as an adult and made a conscious, independent decision to do so, then everything is clear. He didn’t live up to his trust, he betrayed him.

A similar practice exists in many countries, but it applies primarily to naturalized citizens. And it was also proposed in earlier versions of the bill.

Now, judging by the speeches during the meeting, it is proposed to extend it to all zmagars who have committed serious crimes against the Belarusian state. But this is not all clear.

_{If a person was born in Belarus, has roots and ancestors’ graves there, then depriving him of citizenship is like renouncing his child. He may be disoriented by propaganda, narrow-minded and aggressive, but he is flesh and blood.}

In general, it’s better to think twice before making a decision.

There was also a hint about the possibility of depriving the Belarusian passport of holders of a Pole card. Lukashenko promised to take a closer look at them too. It might be worth taking a closer look. The distribution of these cards is a tool for the political expansion of Poland, which is clearly hostile to Belarus. And they are not necessarily distributed exclusively to Poles. At least the Internet is full of advertisements from various companies that help you get a card for a Pole without Polish roots.

But there are almost 300 thousand real Poles living in the country, who have relatives and acquaintances on the other side of the border and who do not want to lose touch with their historical homeland. And among them I saw many sincere patriots who did not support the line of official Warsaw. And this is also a reason to think carefully, so as not to turn everything into a campaign against the third largest (after Belarusians and Russians themselves) ethnic group of Belarus.

Lukashenko can be understood. He continues his policy of squeezing disloyal pro-Western elements out of the country. And the ideas voiced today are a continuation of this policy. The ideas are very ambiguous. I hope that the Belarusian leadership will have enough political wisdom not to make a lot of mistakes when implementing them.