“Proposed Amendments Can be Used for Political Persecution”: Tenants Face Easier Evictions in Belarus
Belarus has proposed amendments to the Housing Code that will facilitate the eviction of individuals from their apartments in specific circumstances. Belsat asked lawyer Mikhail Kirylyuk why this is being done and whether the new rule could become a tool for putting pressure on political refugees.
16.10.2025
The Ministry of Housing and Communal Services has submitted a draft amendment to the Housing Code for public discussion. This proposal arose after the Constitutional Court considered a complaint by a Belarusian woman who inherited real estate but was unable to evict the sister of the former owner. The courts cited the fact that simply throwing a person out if he has no other place to live is illegal in this case.
Now, if the amendments are approved, eviction will become possible.
The same rule will apply in cases where people who had the right to live in a house or apartment agreed to the alienation or mortgage of real estate and were not listed in a special agreement as persons who retain the right to use the premises even after the change of owner.
Public discussion of the project will continue until October 24.
National Anti-Crisis Management lawyer and Coordination Council delegate Mikhail Kirilyuk commented to Belsat that this is a pressing issue for residents who cannot be evicted after, for example, purchasing a home, so the new regulation will make life easier for many:
“This article can be used in ordinary civil legal relations. If someone has sold an apartment and an unscrupulous member of the seller’s family appears, refusing to move out, then the eviction must go through the court. It is a lengthy process, with no certainty of a favorable outcome. Now, if judges will apply this article, then, obviously, it will make life easier for conscientious buyers.”
At the same time, the expert does not rule out that the authorities will use the new legal rules for the political persecution of refugees:
“If this article is used for political persecution, which is also possible if, for example, illegally confiscated housing of political refugees, representatives of democratic forces, is auctioned, then this will be another abuse of rights by those who will apply this law in this way.”
According to Kirylyuk, the law will allow the eviction of residents from apartments that belonged to “extremist” refugees and were confiscated:
“This law applies to cases where an emigrant owns 100% of the property, and, for example, an ex-wife who remains in Belarus lives there. And if his property has been confiscated, and the ex-wife wants to continue living there, she will not have this right.”
The Belsat interlocutor summed up: it is almost impossible to predict “the degree of abuse of rights by the Belarusian authorities,” so time will tell how it will turn out.
“We will see how Belarusian courts will apply this, I think, in six months or a year, when the first high-profile cases appear. If there are no abuses, then we will most likely not hear about this topic, because fair results of cases are rarely published. But if there are abuses, then we will definitely find out about it,” Kirylyuk summed up.
Earlier, the authorities began the practice of seizing the property of Belarusians who were convicted in absentia under the special proceedings procedure. They sold the real estate of, for example, Sviatlana and Siarhei Tsikhanouski, as well as Veranika and Valer Tsapkala, at auctions.
