‘Propaganda of gender reassignment and childlessness’ now a crime in Belarus
The Council of the Republic has approved a bill amending the Code of Administrative Offenses. The bill introduces dozens of new offenses and revises existing provisions—ranging from ‘propaganda’ to rules governing the handling of tokens and plants.
The Code of Administrative Offenses will include 9 new articles and 43 new categories of administrative offenses. Another 73 categories have been revised, with penalties amended for 32 of them.
One of the most notable changes is the article on ‘propaganda of homosexual relationships, gender reassignment, childlessness, and pedophilia’. The law defines this as ‘the dissemination, in any form, of information intended to shape citizens’ perceptions regarding the attractiveness of homosexual relationships, gender reassignment, childlessness, or the acceptance of pedophilia as permissible’ . Penalties for this include fines of up to 20 base units (currently up to 900 rubles) for individuals, up to 100 (up to 4,500 rubles) for sole proprietors, and up to 150 (up to 6,750 rubles) for legal entities. If such information is accessible to minors, the punishment is more severe: community service or administrative arrest may be imposed.
In addition, liability is being introduced for a number of new violations. These include transactions involving tokens if prohibited by law, violations of traceability rules for products of animal origin, quality requirements, and mobile network coverage standards, as well as the unlawful representation of Belarus at international events.
A separate article addresses transactions involving cryptoassets: prohibited token transactions are punishable by a fine of up to 100 base units, with possible confiscation.
Liability is also introduced for inaction regarding invasive plants—for example, if a landowner fails to take measures to control them.
At the same time, some provisions are being relaxed. In particular, individuals will be exempt from administrative liability for tax arrears of up to 40 base units if the debt is paid within 10 days of an audit. A similar approach is being introduced for violations in the area of public procurement and errors in statistical reporting—provided they are rectified.
The law also provides for the possibility of suspending the enforcement of a penalty in the form of a driver’s license suspension or exempting the individual from the unexecuted portion of the penalty—subject to certain conditions.
The bill must now be signed by Alyaksandr Lukashenka. Some of the changes will take effect immediately upon official publication, while the rest will take effect in two months.
