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Any leader who has to sign legislation stating they have lifelong immunity from prosecution, probably needs to be prosecuted for the rest of their long life.

History tells us this always works.

Trump: you can DO that?

Sounds like a sign of weakness, tbh.

He's been in power for a very long time and hasn't needed this before.

Totally the kinda stuff you do when you've been well behaved

And that's how assassination becomes a national hobby.

I mean there was this old Italian guy that tried that a few thousand years ago. I can't remember how it ended.

That sounds good and all on paper, but it's really only as binding as the people that come in after him are willing to let it be. I can imagine a law being passed later on just repealing this law and he's right back to square one, assuming he doesn't just hold onto power until he dies and/or Russia doesn't annex Belarus.

The thing about laws, is that all it needs to remove them is another law...

Fuck it. I declare myself King of Belarus. Luka will hang by his balls tonight at midnight.

Oh well in that case I grant myself immunity as well from any future prosecution.

That was easy!

Very nice! That is a good one! /borat voice

The behind the scenes in Belarus and Russia must be going worse than anyone knows if he feels the need to do this.

He knows he's fucked up and that the writing is on the wall for him. Putin is on borrowed time and so is he.

He won't be prosecuted in court anyway. It's probably going to be a trial of the ratatatat-tat style like Ceaucescu's. All this does is show how pathetic Lukashenko really is.

Isn't this more or less admission of wrongdoings and criminal activities from his part? Like those monopoly cards to skip the jail.

Like any law, it can be rendered null and void by any following government, considering the following executive will not be a puppet.

This, more than anything else, tells me Russia and it's allies do not have rosey internal forecasts.

In the US, we just have a 'gentleman's agreement'.

This is so insane. When a country puts a guy like him behind them, there's no law that can't be changed to remove these kinds of protections and the circumstances at that point tend to exist where "the people" are perfectly OK changing even the most fundamental laws to facilitate getting rid of people like him permanently.

And if they can't get rid of him by law and he's overthrown, that much the more reason to stab him with 50 daggers.

This is the best summary I could come up with:

The Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, has signed a new law granting him lifelong immunity from criminal prosecution and preventing opposition leaders living in exile from running in future presidential elections.

The new measure appears aimed at further shoring up Lukashenko’s power and eliminating potential challengers in the country’s next presidential election, which is due to take place in 2025.

The law significantly tightens requirements for presidential candidates and makes it impossible to elect opposition leaders who have fled to neighbouring countries in recent years.

Belarus was rocked by mass protests during Lukashenko’s controversial re-election in August 2020 for a sixth term, which the opposition and the west condemned as fraudulent.

The law also says the president and members of his family will be provided with lifelong state protection, medical care, and life and health insurance.

“We will ensure that the dictator is brought to justice,” Tsikhanouskaya said, emphasising that there were still about 1,500 political prisoners behind bars in Belarus, including the Nobel peace prize laureate Ales Bialiatski.

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The monkey paw grants your wish, but you die tonight.

Is he stepping down or something?

When you are President for Life, the paths for succession and retirement are limited, and often abruptly enacted. Others will want that lifetime immunity too.