Legal trouble abroad: Can Belarusian embassies take your passport?
Many Belarusian immigrants wonder if it is safe to visit embassies if they are facing criminal persecution in their country. Can embassy officials seize their passports? The Viasna Legal Service says that if a criminal case is opened in Belarus, passports can be taken away at the embassies of Belarus in other countries. According to the law, this right is given to employees of diplomatic missions and consular offices. But this right has to be stipulated in a relevant legal document.
“Let’s take a look at the Regulation on Identity Documents, which was approved by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus No. 294 of August 3, 2008 (hereinafter, the “Regulation”). It explains who and under what circumstances is entitled to confiscate an identity document.
Thus, an official of a diplomatic mission or consular office is entitled to confiscate a passport in the following cases:
- the passport is invalid (see paragraph 8 of the Regulation), e.g. it has expired;
- the holder of the document has lost the right to use it (see paragraph 9 of the Regulation), e.g. due to expatriation;
- unlawful possession of the document by a person other than its holder.
The seizure of a passport by officials of a diplomatic mission or consular office is prohibited for other reasons not provided for in the decree”.
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The Regulation also outlines instances where a passport may be subject to temporary seizure (see paragraph 14). This may occur in cases where the passport holder has been sentenced to a penalty of restriction or deprivation of freedom. It should be noted that embassy and consulate officials are not authorized to seize identity documents for these reasons.
There is a well-known case study of Belarusian journalist Iryna Makavietskaya who could not obtain a new passport after its exchange. This occurred before the implementation of legislative restrictions, which prohibit Belarusians from exchanging their passports abroad. At the time, the journalist stated:
“I sent them two communications asking to set a new appointment, but they didn’t respond. I called the embassy, which was tricky, and asked when I could come for the passport. They said I could only get the passport in the Republic of Belarus, but they didn’t say why.”
