Belarus president has no intention to abolish or suspend ‘parasite’ law


Decree Nr 3 has not been abolished or suspended, Belarusian president Alyaksandr Lukashenka said when visiting Mahiliou-based Kronospan company workers on Tuesday.

“No matter how unpopular the decree is, I have neither abolished nor suspended it. The decree stays in force. The only thing I asked for was to put tax collection on hold for the people included in the relevant lists. Some of them were put on these lists unfairly. We will review all the lists. The deadline is 1 October,” state-run news agency BelTA quotes Lukashenka.

In February-March, there has been an eruption of protesting the so-called ‘parasite’ law in Belarus. The decree signed by Alyaksandr Lukashenka in April, 2015 established the obligation of the citizens of Belarus, foreign citizens permanently residing in Belarus, stateless persons, who did not participate in the financing of public spending or participated in such financing less than 183 days (six months – ed.) in the past year, to pay a fee of 20 basic units (appr. $230).

On March 9, the Belarusian leader announced that the law on idlers would stay in force, but tax collection would be postponed for a year.

Police abuse in Mahiliou, 15.03 (ENG subtitles)

About 200 Belarusians have been detained, fined, jailed after recent non-parasite marches. Last week, trials of participants were held in Minsk,Hrodna and Mahiliou. Most of them were accused of violating the order of holding mass events and disobedience to police officers’ demands. It should be noted that plainclothes policemen who refuse to show their IDs a or introduce themselves often beat people and prevented journalists from performing their professional duties.

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