Prevention of extremism

Extremism (extremist activity) is the activity of citizens of the Republic of Belarus, foreign citizens or stateless persons (hereinafter, unless otherwise specified, referred to as citizens) or political parties, trade unions, other public associations, religious and other organizations, including foreign or international organizations or their representative offices (hereinafter, unless otherwise specified, referred to as organizations), formations and individual entrepreneurs in planning, organizing, preparing and committing encroachments on the independence, territorial integrity, sovereignty, foundations of the constitutional system, public security by means of:

violent change of the constitutional system and (or) territorial integrity of the Republic of Belarus (Art. 361 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus);
seizure or retention of state power by unconstitutional means (Art. 357 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus);
creation of an extremist formation or participation in an extremist formation (Art. 361-1 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus);
assisting in the commission of extremist activity, undergoing training or other preparation for participation in such activity (Art. 361-5 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus);
dissemination for these purposes of knowingly false information about the political, economic, social, military or international situation of the Republic of Belarus, the legal status of citizens in the Republic of Belarus, discrediting the Republic of Belarus (Art. 369-1 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus);
insult for these purposes of a government official in connection with the performance of his official duties, discrediting government authorities and administration (Art. 369 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus);
creation of an illegal armed formation for these purposes (Art. 361-1 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus);
carrying out terrorist activities (Art. 290-5 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus);
inciting racial, national, religious or other social enmity or discord, political or ideological enmity, enmity or discord towards any social group, including the commission for these purposes of unlawful acts against public order and public morality, the order of administration, life and health, personal freedom, honor and dignity of the individual, property (Art. 130 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus);

organizing and carrying out mass riots, acts of vandalism involving damage or destruction of property, seizure of buildings and structures, other actions grossly violating public order, or active participation therein motivated by racial, national, religious or other social enmity or strife, political or ideological enmity, enmity or strife towards any social group (Article 293 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus);

committing illegal actions in this regard concerning weapons, ammunition, explosives (Article 295 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus);

propagating exclusivity, superiority or inferiority of citizens based on their social, racial, national, religious or linguistic affiliation (Article 130 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus);

disseminating extremist materials, as well as manufacturing, publishing, storing or transporting such materials for the purpose of dissemination (Article 19.11 of the Code of Administrative Offences);

rehabilitation of Nazism, propaganda or public demonstration, manufacturing, dissemination of Nazi symbols and attributes, as well as storing or acquiring such symbols or attributes for the purpose of dissemination (Article 341-1 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus);

obstructing the lawful activities of state bodies, including the Central Commission of the Republic of Belarus for Elections and Referendums, election commissions, referendum commissions, commissions for voting on the recall of a deputy, as well as the lawful activities of officials of these bodies and commissions, committed with the use of violence, threat of its use, deception, bribery, or with the use of violence or threat of violence against close relatives of the said officials in order to obstruct their lawful activities or to compel them to change the nature of such activities or out of revenge for the performance of their official duties (Article 366 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus);

financing of extremist activities (Article 361-2 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus);

public calls for the organization or holding of illegal assemblies, rallies, street processions, demonstrations for these purposes

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of registration or picketing in violation of the established procedure for their organization or conduct, or involving persons in participation in such mass events through violence, threat of violence, deception or payment of remuneration, or other organization or conduct of such mass events, if their conduct resulted in the death of people, infliction of grievous bodily harm to one or more persons, or damage on a large scale due to negligence (Art. 369-3 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus);

public calls for the above actions, as well as public justification of such actions (Art. 361 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus).

What are extremist materials?

Extremist materials are symbols and attributes, information products (printed, audio, audiovisual and other information messages and/or materials, posters, portraits, banners and other visual agitation, advertising products) intended for public display, use and distribution or distributed in any way for the purpose of involving in extremist activity and its propaganda, and recognized as extremist materials by court decision.

What are the forms of extremist materials?

CD-R discs
Book publications
Printed publications
Video materials
Information materials (Telegram channels, videos, photos, articles, Internet resources, etc.)
Information products (badges, stamps, etc.)
Video clips
Brochures
Website
Image
Music

How to determine if a material is extremist?

The Republican list of extremist materials (channels, chats, formations) is posted on the website of the Ministry of Information of the Republic of Belarus http://mininform.gov.by/documents/respublikanskiy-spisok-ekstremistskikh-materialov/, which is regularly updated and supplemented.

Responsibility

Distribution (reposting, sharing, linking, etc.) on the Internet, storage of extremist materials, subscribing to extremist resources entail liability in accordance with the law.

Article 19.10. Propaganda or public display, production, distribution of Nazi symbols or attributes

1. Propaganda or public display, including using the global computer network Internet or other information network, production, distribution of Nazi symbols or attributes, as well as storage or acquisition of such symbols or attributes for the purpose of distribution – shall entail a fine of up to ten base units with confiscation of the object of the administrative offense, as well as the tools and means of committing the said offense or without confiscation of such tools and means, or community service with confiscation of the object of the administrative offense, as well as the tools and means of committing the said offense or without confiscation of such tools and means, or administrative arrest with confiscation of the object of the administrative offense, as well as the tools and means of committing the said offense or without confiscation of such tools and means, for an individual entrepreneur – a fine of up to fifty base units with confiscation of the object of the administrative offense, as well as the tools and means of committing the said offense or without confiscation of such tools and means, and for a legal entity – up to two hundred base units with confiscation of the object of the administrative offense, as well as the tools and means of committing the said offense or without confiscation of such tools and means.

2. The same acts committed repeatedly within one year after the imposition of an administrative penalty for the same offenses shall entail a fine of ten to twenty base units with confiscation of the object of the administrative offense, as well as the tools and means of committing the said offense or without confiscation of such tools and means, or community service with confiscation of the object of the administrative offense, as well as the tools and means of committing the said offense or without confiscation of such tools and means, or administrative arrest with confiscation of the object of the administrative offense, as well as the tools and means of committing the said offense or without confiscation of such tools and means, for an individual entrepreneur – a fine of twenty to fifty base units with confiscation of the object of the administrative offense, as well as the tools and means of committing the said offense or without confiscation of such tools and means, and for a legal entity – from fifty to two hundred base units with confiscation of the object of the administrative offense, as well as the tools and means of committing the said offense or without confiscation of such tools and means.

Note. The public display, production, distribution of Nazi symbols or attributes, as well as the storage or acquisition of such symbols or attributes for the purpose of distribution by an individual, individual entrepreneur or legal entity in the course of activities in the field of theatrical, musical, circus and visual arts, library activities, cinematographic activities, museum activities, organization and holding of cultural and entertainment, entertainment and other cultural events, publishing, educational activities, scientific activities, collection of cultural values, mass media, in the absence of signs of propaganda of Nazi symbols or attributes, in accordance with the legislation, are not administrative offenses.

Article 19.11 Distribution, production, storage, transportation of information products containing calls for extremist activity or promoting such activity

1. The dissemination of information products containing calls for extremist activities or promoting such activities, as well as the production, storage, or transportation for the purpose of disseminating such information products, shall entail a fine of up to 20 base units with confiscation of the object of the administrative offense.

2. The dissemination of information products included in the republican list of extremist materials, as well as the production, publication, storage, or transportation for the purpose of disseminating such information products, shall entail a fine of 10 to 30 base units with confiscation of the object of the administrative offense, as well as the tools and means of committing the specified violation or without confiscation of such tools and means, or community service with confiscation of the object of the administrative offense, as well as the tools and means of committing the specified violation or without confiscation of such tools and means, or administrative arrest (up to 15 days) with confiscation of the object of the administrative offense, as well as the tools and means of committing the specified violation or without confiscation of such tools and means.

Article 24.23. Violation of the procedure for organizing or holding mass events

1. Violation of the established procedure for holding a meeting, rally, street procession, demonstration, picketing, or other mass event, committed by a participant of such events, as well as public calls for the organization or holding of a meeting, rally, street procession, demonstration, picketing, or other mass event in violation of the established procedure for their organization or holding, committed by a participant of such events or by another person, shall entail a fine of up to one hundred base units, or community service, or administrative arrest.
2. Violation of the established procedure for organizing or holding a meeting, rally, street procession, demonstration, picket, or other mass event, as well as public calls for the organization or holding of a meeting, rally, street procession, demonstration, picket, or other mass event in violation of the established procedure for their organization or holding, committed by the organizer of such events, – shall entail a fine of from twenty to one hundred and fifty base units, or community service, or administrative arrest, and for a legal entity – from twenty to two hundred base units.
3. Acts provided for in part 1 of this article, committed repeatedly within one year after the imposition of an administrative penalty for the same violations, – shall entail a fine of from twenty to two hundred base units, or community service, or administrative arrest.
4. Acts provided for in part 2 of this article, committed repeatedly within one year after the imposition of an administrative penalty for the same violations, – shall entail a fine of from twenty to two hundred base units, or community service, or administrative arrest, and for a legal entity – from twenty to two hundred base units.
5. Acts provided for in part 1 of this article, committed for remuneration, – shall entail a fine of from thirty to two hundred base units, or community service, or administrative arrest.
6. Acts provided for in part 2 of this article, accompanied by payment of remuneration for participation in a meeting, rally, street procession, demonstration, picket, – shall entail a fine of from forty to two hundred base units, or community service, or administrative arrest, and for a legal entity – from two hundred and fifty to five hundred base units.
7. The collection, receipt, and use of funds, other property, including property rights, as well as exclusive rights to intellectual property, and the performance of work, provision of services for the purpose of compensating for expenses incurred due to bringing a person to justice for violating the procedure for organizing or holding mass events, shall entail a fine of five to thirty basic units with or without confiscation of the subject of the administrative offense, and for a legal entity – up to one hundred percent of the amount (value) of the subject of the administrative offense with or without its confiscation.
Note. The performance of work, provision of services by a person for the purpose of compensating for their own expenses incurred due to bringing them to justice for violating the procedure for organizing or holding mass events shall not constitute an administrative offense provided for by part 7 of this Article.

Article 361 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus

1. Public calls for the seizure of state power, or for the violent change of the constitutional order of the Republic of Belarus, or for treason against the state, or for the commission of an act of terrorism or sabotage, or for the commission of actions aimed at violating the territorial integrity of the Republic of Belarus, or for the commission of other actions aimed at harming the national security of the Republic of Belarus, including the application of restrictive measures (sanctions) against the Republic of Belarus, individuals and legal entities of the Republic of Belarus, or the dissemination of materials containing such calls, in the absence of signs of a more serious crime, shall be punished by restriction of liberty for up to 5 years or by imprisonment for up to 6 years with or without a fine.
2. Calls addressed to a foreign state, a foreign or international organization to commit actions aimed at harming the national security of the Republic of Belarus, including the application of restrictive measures (sanctions) against the Republic of Belarus, individuals and legal entities of the Republic of Belarus, or the dissemination of materials containing such calls, in the absence of signs of a more serious crime, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of 3 to 10 years with or without a fine.
3. The actions provided for in parts 1 or 2 of this Article, committed using mass media or the global computer network Internet, or by an official using their official powers, or resulting in grave consequences, shall be punishable by imprisonment for a term of 4 to 12 years with or without a fine.

Article 369 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus

Insulting a representative of authority or their close relatives in connection with the performance of their official duties, committed in a public speech, or in a printed or publicly displayed work, or in mass media, or in information posted on the global computer network Internet, shall be punishable by a fine, or arrest, or restriction of liberty for a term of up to 3 years with a fine, or imprisonment for the same term with a fine.