Minister: Amnesty will not affect crime situation in Belarus

The amnesty will not affect the crime situation in the country, Belarusian Internal Affairs Minister Ivan Kubrakov told media at the sitting of the ninth session of the House of Representatives of the seventh convocation on 10 November, BelTA has learned.

The minister presented the draft law “On amnesty in connection with the Day of People’s Unity” in the Parliament on 10 November. The bill passed two readings.
 
“We expect that the amnesty will not affect the crime situation in the country. I am sure everything will be all right,” said Ivan Kubrakov.

According to the minister, this is not the first amnesty held in the country. “It does not mean that people who will be freed will be left alone after they leave prison. The lists of amnestied person will be sent to the territorial bodies of internal affairs, and all the information about them will be in the penal enforcement inspectorate. If necessary they will be provided with assistance in finding a job. Of course, certain control will be exercised. The control mechanism has been worked out,” he added.

According to preliminary estimates, 4,545 people are to be granted relief from various kinds of court-ordered sentences and punitive measures; 1,600 of them will be granted early release from prison (including 10 minors), 500 will be released from open prisons, and 2,445 will be able to get off probation early. In addition, there are plans to reduce the sentence length by one year for 3,950 convicts, of whom 2,500 serve sentences, 350 are in open prisons, 1,100 are on probation.

"I am sure that this law will be endorsed by our society. Our state always exercises the principle of humanism to people who have reformed themselves or atoned for their guilt. The most important thing is reformation. It is when people realize what they have done and repent. Therefore, when working on this bill, we took all these points into account," the minister added. "I am sure that the bill will have a positive impact on those people who have made a mistake."