Today, the European Union imposed sanctions on 28 people from Belarus, accused of violating human rights and related to the ongoing measures against opponents of the authoritarian regime of President Alexander Lukashenko, the Associated Press reported, quoted by BTA.
The measure was taken just before the anniversary of the contested presidential election in August 2020, when Lukashenko won a sixth term in office.
The EU announced that it had frozen the assets of prosecutors and judges “who issued politically motivated sentences”. The sanctioned persons are also prohibited from traveling in the 27-member bloc.
Others subject to sanctions include high-ranking officials of the Department of Combating Organized Crime and Corruption of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus, high-ranking representatives of the prison administration, as well as alleged “propagandists of the regime” working in the media.
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The EU said that the ministerial department in question is “one of the main bodies responsible for political persecution in Belarus, including arbitrary and unlawful arrests and torture, including torture, of activists and members of civil society”.
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On Thursday, two Belarusian journalists working for media that the government defines as “extremist” were sentenced behind closed doors - the latest episode of the ongoing repression in the country against dissent and independent journalism, notes AP.
The crackdown began after large-scale protests erupted in response to the disputed election on August 9, 2020. According to the EU, the vote was rigged.
Over 35,000 people were arrested during the protests. Many prominent opposition figures left the country and others were sentenced to many years in prison. According to data from the human rights group "Vyasna" almost 1,400 political prisoners are currently serving sentences in Belarus.
In a statement, the EU said it “stands by the people of Belarus and firmly supports the demand of the Belarusian people for a fair, democratic, sovereign and independent Belarus as part of a peaceful Europe”.