President signs laws against rehabilitation of Nazism and extremism

Both laws had previously been adopted by deputies and approved by the Council of the Republic. The first document is the most important one for our country. It was Belarus that suffered colossal damage from the actions of Nazi Germany and its accomplices during the Second World War. Unfortunately, facts of distortion of the events of the past are being fixed now, pseudo-historical articles are being published in the Internet which justify Nazi criminals and their accomplices and pose a potential threat to the national security. So the law is timely and of fundamental importance for preservation of the values.

Last year, more than 80 leaders and participants of neo-Nazi organizations were prosecuted in Belarus. It is more than 10 times higher than usual figures. It is especially alarming that the ultra-right activists are aimed at active promotion of their ideology in society. Should we be surprised at the appearance of symbols of Nazi accomplices at the monuments to the heroes of the Great Patriotic War? And imagine how bitter it is to see such mockery of historical truth and justice for veterans and post-war generations.

The worst thing is when they want to put Nazism and those who saved the world from this brown plague on the same level. And this is exactly what the rewriters of history do. When they suggest making May 9, "Victory Day", some kind of "Day of Mourning", this is the substitution of notions, as well as attempts to portray Nazi collaborators, war criminals, as fighters for independence.

White-Red-White is a symbol of misfortune for the Belarusians. These colours were used to kill civilians and defenders of the Fatherland from the Nazis. And as long as this memory is alive in a country where every third petson died, it will be very difficult to impose such symbols. However, this does not mean that it is impossible. It is against such attempts that the new law is directed. It is a legal basis for the most decisive and principled steps.

Laws prohibiting justification or approval of Nazi crimes exist in some European countries, Canada and Israel. In Austria, Romania and the Czech Republic, for example, it is possible to go to prison for up to 10 years for Holocaust denial. Huge fines are stipulated for glorifying Nazism in the press and for wearing banned symbols.

By the way, today is an anniversary. On May 14, 1995, our people in a referendum sent the imposed symbols of collaborators to the dustbin, returning the colours of the Victory Banner.