Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko suggests toughening punishment for drug-related crimes. He made the statement at the government session held on 4 December to discuss the fight against the illegal trade in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, their precursors and analogues, BelTA has learned.
The President deems it necessary to toughen the punishment stipulated in the existing legislation. “Those who commit the most heinous crimes must serve 20 to 25 years in prison. Those who commit less severe crimes should be given shorter prison sentences. You need to come up with the criteria and we will incorporate it into the law. MPs will support us,” the head of state told those present at the meeting.
Alexander Lukashenko emphasized that the prison conditions for people convicted for drug-related crimes should be toughened as much as possible. “These people should have the most severe prison conditions. I do not think that we need a separate prison for such criminals, but if there are too many of them they can be put in one prison. By the way, the prison population in the country has fallen by more than 50% and now we have enough correctional facilities. Such criminals can serve their sentences in a separate block of a maximum security prison. The same can be applied to drug dealers,” Alexander Lukashenko stressed. As far as drug addicts are concerned, they must get medical treatment. “Yes, we are sorry for these poor people, but they need medical treatment. However, they must be placed in specialized preventative clinics instead of conventional hospitals,” the President said.
The head of state has been recently informed about two successful police operations to expose a drug ring which included drug producers and dealers. “Our policemen know how they look like. They need to tell us what measures we must take in respect of these criminals. I am also wondering what we need to do to discourage people from taking drugs. In my opinion, these are our main objectives. We need to find answers to these questions and enact them into a law. We will do our utmost to raise the efficiency of this law,” Alexander Lukashenko said.
Written by belta.by
