U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has condemned authoritarian Belarusian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka's move to introduce the death penalty for those convicted of "terrorism," a charge his regime often uses against its critics and dissidents.
Belarusian state-controlled media reported that Lukashenka on May 18 signed a controversial law amending the Criminal Code that allows for the usage of capital punishment for "attempted terrorist acts."
Blinken said in a statement issued hours later that the move targeted pro-democracy activists and opponents of Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
"The regime has levied politically motivated charges of 'extremism' and 'terrorism' against many of the more than 1,100 political prisoners and used such labels to detain tens of thousands more," Blinken said in the statement.
"These actions are those of an authoritarian leader desperate to cling to power through fear and intimidation," he added.
Belarus, which allowed Russia to use its territory to stage its attack on Ukraine, is the only country in Europe that still uses the death penalty.
Blinken said that ahead of the May 21 commemoration of the Day of Political Prisoners in Belarus, Washington was reiterating its call for the "unconditional release of all political prisoners, an end to the regime's violence against its own citizens, and a national dialogue inclusive of civil society and the democratic movement, leading to free and fair elections under international observation."
For years, the UN and the European Union have urged Belarus to join other countries in declaring a moratorium on capital punishment.
According to rights organizations, more than 400 people have been sentenced to death in Belarus since it gained independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
