The self-proclaimed president of Belarus Oleksandr Lukashenko signed a law on the deprivation of citizenship for people convicted of extremist activities.
This is stated on the website of the President of Belarus.
The law will enter into force in the summer of 2023. According to it, Belarusians who are outside the country and convicted of extremism or "causing serious harm" to the interests of the state can lose their citizenship — even those who do not have another passport.
As "Radio Svoboda" ["Radio Liberty"] reports, Belarus has not signed the UN Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.
This law also obliges Belarusians to notify the Lukashenko regime of acquiring citizenship or a residence permit in another country. This applies, in particular, to documents that give the right to receive a residence permit, for example, a Poleʼs card.
- Since the beginning of August 2020, Belarusian citizens have protested against the re-election of President Lukashenko. Active protests lasted from August 9 to 11, when security forces detained the most people. Many of them were beaten and received punishment by court decision. More than 400 people have already been sentenced. 290 people in Belarus are recognized as political prisoners.
- In August 2021, Lukashenko ordered to revoke the citizenship of naturalized Belarusians for participating in protests.
- In August 2022, a court in Belarus recognized the social media accounts of the fictional country of Veishnoria as extremist. It was invented as a conditional enemy during the joint military exercises of Russia and Belarus in 2017. Telegram stickers with self-proclaimed President Lukashenko were also recognized as extremist.