Tenure
Corruption
Shunevich attempted to combat corruption,particularly with law enforcement. [19] He has stated that 123 criminal cases were initiated against police officers,and that he had started to conduct raids on police officers and that the ministry had started identifying officers who had violated professional discipline. [3] After 270 thousand dollars was stolen by a police officer from GUBOPiK,he said they were looking into it,although the man left to Romania. [20]
Alcohol
Shunevich advocated for restrictions on the sale of alcohol in the morning,which he said reduced the crime rate,which was briefly passed before being repealed a day later in 2018. [21] Shunevich also stated in 2016 in an official post that law enforcement officers would work on limiting the availability of alcohol,particularly through the internet. [22]
Abuse
The ministry also developed a bill countering domestic violence,proposing measures to prevent it. [21] He also proposed an official ban on child abuse,which was soundly rejected with Lukashenko also speaking out against it. [23] Shunevich ordered doctors to inform the ministry about the sexual lives of schoolgirls under 16 to identify crimes against sexual inviolability. [21]
Drugs
In 2014,a law was passed giving the state a monopoly on the trade of poppy seeds,from which opium can be obtained,and a liability was issued. [21] In response,the ministry under Shuneivch initiated a law that increased responsibility for the circulation of narcotics,psychotropics,increasing the maximum term of imprisonment for sale of drugs to 25 years and reducing the age of responsibility to 14 with Shunevich saying it stopped people dying and slaughtering. Article 328 of the Criminal Code later changed this law,lowering the terms of imprisonment and the fines after people went on a hunger strike to soften the law. [24] [25] Shunevich later stated that he would not rule out decriminalization of crimes under the milder part of Article 328 if people were previously sanctioned for it. [26]
Roma
On 16 May 2019,a notable incident occurred where police smashed the houses of people from the Roma community and took them into interrogation after the death of a police officer in Mahiliou which was reported to be caused by three people of Roma appearance. [27] Although on 20 May the Investigate Committee said it was a suicide,Shunevich responded on 23 May that the raids on the Roma were justified because of the circumstances and the serious crime. [27] To apologize for his comments,Natalya Kochanova visited those affected. [12]
LGBT
When the British Embassy in Minsk hoisted an LGBT flag in 2018,Shunevich commented on 22 May that it was "propaganda of a lifestyle that is unacceptable for us" on Belarus 1 channel. [28] [29] He also accused the UK of creating problems where they do not exist. [30] The flag was hung on 17 May on the International Day Against Homophobia,Biphobia and Transphobia with British Ambassador Fionna Gibb commenting that it promotes and draws public attention to the discrimination against LGBT people. [31] Igor Hubarevich,a senior analyst of the Ostrogorski Center,said the case was inappropriate since foreign missions falls under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and not internal,and that the Foreign Ministry had refrained from commenting indicating there was no violation of law. [32]
His comments in May 2018 prompted pride parades in the United States and Canada to ridicule him. [33] A petition was also created calling for the removal of the statement "We are for the real thing!" be removed. [34] The Humans Right Center in Minsk also responded with a petition for a criminal investigation into Shunevich for inciting hatred against LGBT people and violating Article 130,but the case was dismissed by the Prosecutor General's Office by Marina Popova who said it was his personal opinion. [35] In June he was asked what the "they will not pass" comment meant from the May 2018 statements made by the Ministry of Internal Affairs,to which Shunevich commented they will not pass anywhere and called the Ministry's response correct and diplomatic and said that mass detentions of LGBT people were not brutal. [36] He also stated that protecting morality was a function of the Ministry,which is why they commented on it,which is considered a broad interpretation of the ministry's powers. [37] Later in December,he called LGBT people "leaky",a word used in prison slang to insult the community,and also dyryavyye (holers). [38] [39]
