Western Allies Slap Fresh Sanctions on Belarus
According to RFE/RL, The United States, the European Union, Britain, and Canada have slapped a fresh round of coordinated sanctions on Belarus in response to the regime of Alyaksandr Lukashenka's mounting repression against the political opposition and the free media.
"These coordinated designations demonstrate the steadfast transatlantic commitment to supporting the Belarusian people's democratic aspirations," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on June 21, as the Treasury Department imposed sanctions on 16 individuals and five entities.
The Treasury said the move was coordinated with the United States' international partners and was meant to hold to account Lukashenka's regime for its ongoing abuses and violations of international norms, including its forced diversion of a commercial Ryanair flight and arrest of journalist Raman Pratasevich and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega last month.
"The persons designated today have harmed the people of Belarus through their activities surrounding the fraudulent August 9, 2020, presidential election in Belarus and the ensuing brutal crackdown on protesters, journalists, members of the opposition, and civil society," the Treasury said in a press statement.
Among the entities blacklisted by the Treasury were the main Belarusian security service, the KGB, the Internal Troops of the Interior Ministry of the Republic of Belarus, and the Main Directorate for Combating Organized Crime and Corruption, known as the GUBOPIK, who were all involved in the postelection repression.
Prosecutor-General Andrey Ivanavich Shved, who has "filed politically motivated terrorism charges and extradition requests against presidential candidate Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya," and Mikalay Karpyankou, Belarus’s deputy interior minister and the current commander of the ministry's internal troops were among the blacklisted individuals.
In Luxembourg, EU foreign ministers on June 21 agreed to sanction key sectors of the Belarusian economy and major revenue sources for the regime: potash fertilizer exports, the tobacco industry, petroleum, and petrochemical products.
The measures include a ban on sales of surveillance equipment to Belarus and tightening of an arms embargo.
The ministers also officially signed off on adding 78 additional individuals and eight entities to an assets freeze and visa ban blacklist.
The list also includes lawmakers, prosecutors, judges, and other officials who the bloc says are "responsible for serious human rights violations and for seriously undermining the rule of law, as well as for the repression of civil society and democratic opposition."
