The statute of limitations expires. Is it safe to return to Belarus?

In Belarus, the five -year limitation period for holding on some "protest" articles will soon expire. This directly applies to thousands of people who took part in the mass protests of the summer and autumn of 2020 - they began after the CEC of Belarus declared the winner of the presidential election of Alexander Lukashenko, and not Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, and the elections themselves were held with mass falsifications.

The protests, which in the summer and autumn of 2020 covered all Belarus, were brutally crushed. Thousands of people were arrested or fined, criminal cases were instituted for hundreds, tens of thousands left Belarus, fearing persecution. Does the expiration of the statute of limitations mean on the “protest” articles that the repressions in Belarus against the participants of the 2020 marches will stop? And do those who threaten criminal cases want to return home?

The Belarusian Radio Service Freedom spoke with several participants in the 2020 protests : we asked if they want to return to Belarus and whether they feel the danger of this. The journalists also talked with a lawyer about whether the law would be observed in Belarus regarding the statute of limitations for the protests of 2020.

"The lawyer said: they may consider that you were hiding from justice"

IT specialist Andrei (the name changed for security purposes-ed.) Participated in protests in Belarus in the summer and autumn of 2020: he went with friends for almost all Sunday marches. He recalls that he had to run away from the security forces who conducted the raids more than once, but managed to avoid detentions.

In the summer of 2021, Andrei moved to Poland to work, taking his wife and son with him. A month later, he found out that two of his friends in his homeland were detained. They were charged under Article 342 of the Criminal Code of Belarus "Organization of riots or active participation in them" - from photographs and videos from protests. Andrei's friends were convicted. One has already left the colony, having served the entire term.

The security forces asked the detainees about Andrew, and also came to his parents and said that the case was also initiated against him under Article 342. There were so many cases under this article after 2020 protests in Belarus that it was called "People's".

For all the time that passed after the departure, Andrei never entered Belarus. He frankly says that he was waiting until the five -year statute of limitations "for protests" expired. But his family, according to him, would like to return to his homeland:

People are delayed even more than they free and dear

“I got a job well in Poland, but my family still wants to return to Belarus,” he says. “Firstly, my wife and my wife have elderly parents. Secondly, we literally moved to a new apartment in 2020, for which we pay a loan. It is impossible to sell it, and we invested a lot of money.”

Andrei lists other arguments in favor of returning to Belarus: the dacha of his parents, he said, is in a “chic” place; He himself works remotely, and no matter where he is - at Bali, in Poland or in Belarus. And his son really wants to visit grandparents.

The family hoped that they would return to Belarus in the fall - as soon as it passes for 5 years and the statute of limitations under the article on protests, and Andrei would not threaten a criminal case.

“But when I began to carefully monitor the situation in Belarus, my optimism has changed. People (there now) delay even more than they free and dear,” said Andrey.

"I turned to a lawyer. He said:" And where is the guarantee that even if the statute of limitations is expired, they will not re -qualify the case to another, more difficult article, for example, 293? - Andrey admits. -
In addition, the lawyer said, they may consider that you were hiding from justice, and excite a special (absentee. - ed) production. Therefore, we are now in despair. "

Article 293 of the Criminal Code of Belarus, about which the lawyer told Andrei, is “the participation or organization of mass riots, accompanied by violence against personality, pogroms, arson, destruction of property, armed with resistance to government representatives. It is considered more difficult, and the statute of limitations for it is really more than under article 342.

"I have nothing to catch abroad"

Alina also actively participated in protest marches in Belarus in 2020. She believes that the security forces themselves gave her the opportunity to escape, hinting at the need to "dump" from the country. At first she left for Ukraine, and with the outbreak of war - to Poland.

Alina says that he still cannot get used to life in a new country. She works in Lodz - not in her specialty, but in hard work in a warehouse, in two shifts. She tried to get a maid at the hotel, but she was allergic to detergents, so she had to return to the warehouse. Alina admits that he hardly makes ends meet and rents a room in an apartment of strangers.

“I have nothing to catch abroad, I want to return home. I have almost no friends and few opportunities to arrange my personal life,” she says. “Besides, over 4 years of my absence in Belarus, my grandmother and father died. I only had a mother, who is sick.”

It's hard to believe that they will not come up with something new to keep people in fear

Alina says that she thought to appeal to the so -called “return commission” (Lukashenko signed a decree on its creation in February 2023, the commission considers the appeals of Belarusians who have committed offenses, including “political” if they want to return to Belarus - Ed. ).

“But my friends dissuaded me-they told me how they lure people in Belarus in this way, and then they are delayed anyway. Therefore, I decided to wait for the expiration of the statute of limitations,” says Alina. “But, judging by the current situation, I am in shock. It is difficult to believe that they will not come up with something new to keep people in fear.”

"They will write you a new article, find a donation or like, find what to put you for"

Egor (the name changed for security purposes - ed.) Was also forced to leave Belarus in early October 2020. He says that he did not want to leave, but after the brutal “collision” of the Gubazik (the main department for combating organized crime, which in Belarus is engaged in “extremism” - ed.) Friends advised him to quickly leave the country. The guy’s parents supported the guy then, but his grandparents did not understand - why is he leaving? Yegor says he quickly oriented himself, settled abroad to an IT company. He does not think about returning to Belarus and calls on other countrymen living abroad also not to do this.

What laws in the country can be, where there are no laws?

“People, read the telegram channels, independent media-no repressions in Belarus stop! They released 14 or 18 people, and“ closed ”much more. Remove pink glasses!” Calls Yegor. “What is the“ statute of limitations ”? What are the laws in the country where there are no laws?”

“They will write a new article to you, sign it on“ extremist ”channels, find a donation or like, find what to put you for,” Yegor reason. “Recently, my friend was called to the KGB for a donation of $ 10 and offered to give $ 1000 to some fund. And then they showed him photos with marches. Only the guys stood on the gas, and not on the road. Now he sits like a mouse under a broom, waiting for another invitation or a visit from the security forces.

"I would like to believe in the cessation of the persecution, but I have no hope for it."

Is there a guarantee that people who went to protests in 2020, or at the same time put likes or left approving comments about protests, will avoid persecution in case of returning to Belarus? After all, the statute of limitations for a significant part of the "protest" articles in the fall of 2025 expires? The Belarusian Radio Liberty Service talked about this on the terms of anonymity with the lawyer of the Respect - Protect - Fulfill international human rights organization.

First of all, the lawyer recalls that, according to Article 83 of the Criminal Code of Belarus, the statute of limitations depends on the category of the committed “crime and for each of the articles it is different. Crimes committed in part 1 of Article 342 usually refer to crimes of small or moderate severity. For medium severity crimes, the statute of limitations in Belarus is 5 years and is calculated from the moment of its commission. Thus, if the basic peaceful rallies and processions began in August and continued until November 2020, this really means that the statute of limitations for them will expire in August-November 2025.

However, according to the same article 130 of the Criminal Code (“excitement of enmity”), the five -year statute of limitations applies only to its first part. And, the lawyer emphasizes, he begins to count from the day of the act - that is, from the day of publication of the negative (for the authorities) comment, post, article or even like. Therefore, if the commentary against the actions of the authorities was left later than 2020, then the statute of limitations for him, obviously, will not expire this year.

"And in parts of 2 and 3 of Article 130, the statute of limitations is much more," the lawyer warns

“Article 361 of the Criminal Code (“ Calls for the commission of a crime ”,“ Participation in extremist formation ”) also has different parts, and only for the first part, the statute of limitations for liability is 5 years. And again it must be emphasized that from the date of“ committing a crime, ”the interlocutor of Radio Liberty emphasizes. - I also want to draw your attention to the fact that actions can be qualified under other articles of the Criminal Code. For example, participation in marches - under article 289 ("Mass riots").

As for the possibility of safe return to Belarus, protest participants who are abroad, each case should be considered separately, the lawyer advises.

In the conditions of legal default, they can come up with anything - and bring to justice

“If a person was not wanted and was not considered hiding from the investigation, then the usual statute of limitations is applied to him. But if the investigation considered that the person disappeared and put him on the wanted list, then the statute of limitations is another - 15 years from the date of the crime,” he warns. “And besides, we must remember the possibility of criminal proceedings in a special manner.”

“Therefore, I would very much like to believe in the cessation of the persecution of people in Belarus for participating in the marches, but I personally have no hope for this,” the lawyer honestly admits. “It seems that the authorities are not going to stop. In the conditions of a legal default, they can come up with anything - and hold accountable.”

Plus 857 "extremists" in six months

The words of the lawyer are confirmed by human rights activists. They emphasize that the scale of repression is not reduced, and the same list of people whom the Belarusian authorities consider “extremists”, on the official website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus, continues to be updated weekly. In the first half of 2025 alone, 857 new names appeared in it. A significant part of them is composed of convicted under mentioned above Article 342 of the Criminal Code. The age range "Estremists" is wide: the list has both a pensioner born in 1951 and young people born in 2003, that is, a little older than 20 years.

At the time of the “crime” mentioned above, the pensioner was 68 years old, and the youngest “extremists” in the list - Ksenia Kislyuk and Diana Demidyuk (numbers in the list of 5442 and 5443) - 17 years old.

On May 30, a closed trial of the 78-year-old activist Nina Baginskaya took place in Belarus. She was charged under part 2 of Article 342-2 of the Criminal Code ("repeated violation of the legislation on mass events"). As a result, they did not send Baginskaya to a pre-trial detention center, but was placed under "preventive observation".

The security forces continue to actively seek and identify the participants in the protests of 2020. According to human rights activists from the "Gomel Spring", the cancer patient Irina Levina, who is now undergoing chemotherapy, was recently detained by security forces directly at the exit of the cancer and placed in an investigative insulator.

In total, in the summer and autumn of 2020, tens of thousands of Belarusians took part in various protests. The majority were detained under Article 342. But they were also accused of other articles of the Criminal Code: 130 (“Excitation of hostility”), 361 (“Assistance, financing of extremist activity”), 368 and 369 (“Insulting the President and officials”). According to the human rights center "Vesna", only under article 342 in 2020–2024 at least 4,500 people were convicted.

The exact number of politically motivated cases in Belarus is difficult to calculate. There is no official judicial statistics on them, and the schedule of trials with the list of articles has not been published for a long time. The defendants in cases and their relatives also often do not want to disclose information about the persecution and inform human rights activists about repressions, fearing that this will lead to even greater problems.