EU imposes sanctions against Lukashenko and his eldest son
On Friday, November 6, the European Union imposed sanctions against the incumbent President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko.
Lukashenko " is responsible for the violent repression by the State apparatus carried out before and after the 2020 presidential election, in particular with the dismissal of key opposition candidates, arbitrary arrests and ill-treatment of peaceful demonstrators as well as intimidation and violence against journalists," the EU statement reads.
The updated sanctions list includes Lukashenko's son Viktor, presidential press secretary Natalia Eismont, head of Lukashenko’s administration Igor Sergeenko, Chairman of the State Security Committee(KGB) Ivan Tertel and Chairman of the Investigative Committee Ivan Noskevich, Deputy Minister of Information Igor Buzovsky, former Secretary of the Security Council of Belarus Andrei Ravkov, Chairman of the Constitutional Court Petr Miklashevich, as well as several other people. A total of 15 individuals have been added to the list.
Mass protests have been going on in Belarus for almost 3 months after the presidential elections. Speeches of citizens who defend their votes and are convinced of falsification of the voting results are suppressed by riot police and special forces. Security forces repeatedly showed unprecedented brutality against the protesters.
In October, the European Union imposed sanctions against 40 officials from Belarus for rigging elections and repression against protesters. Among them are the Interior Minister of Belarus and his deputies, as well as all the members of the Central Election Commission. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe called on the Belarusian authorities to hold new presidential elections in accordance with international standards.