The US State Department has imposed sanctions on two high-ranking Belarusian officials and plans to impose restrictions against another 100 officials of the Lukashenka regime.
This is reported by the CNN channel.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced the sanctions on the second anniversary of the falsified elections in Belarus, which sparked protests in the country.
"The Belarusian people have demonstrated remarkable resilience in sustaining the pro-democracy movement for two years at great personal sacrifice. These calls for democracy are voiced by Belarusians exiled abroad, over 1,200 political prisoners unjustly detained inside the country, and countless ordinary Belarusian citizens. Their peaceful calls for democracy have been met with unprecedented brute force and a consolidated crackdown by the Lukashenka regime," said Blinken.
Two people who have already been sanctioned are Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, Commander of the Internal Troops, Mikalai Karpiankou, and Dzmitriy Balaba, Commander of the Riot Police Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Minsk Farm.
"Today’s action expands existing restrictions on Karpiankou and Balaba to include visa restrictions against their immediate family members, including Karpiankou’s wife Irina and adult son Igor, and Balaba’s wife Tatyana and adult sons Artem and Maksim, making them ineligible for entry into the United States," Blinken noted.
According to Blinken, another hundred Belarusians will fall under sanctions restrictions. These are people who hold high positions in the Presidential Administration, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the State Security Committee (KGB), the Central Election Commission, the Prosecutor Generalʼs Office, the Central Office of the Investigative Committee, the Ministry of Transport, the Main Directorate for Combating Organized Crime and Corruption (GUBOPiK), the National State Broadcasting Company Belteleradio, the Second National Television Station, the Air Force and Air Defense Forces, as well as members of parliament, district judges, security personnel, executive committee members, and state university administrators.
- From the beginning of August 2020, Belarusian citizens began to protest against the re-election of Lukashenka as president. The most active protests lasted from August 9 to 11, when security forces detained the most people. Many of them were beaten and received punishment by court decision. Belarusians demanded re-elections, the release of all political prisoners, the punishment of security forces, and, most importantly, the resignation of Lukashenko.
- On December 2, 2021, the USA, Great Britain, Canada, and the European Union introduced sanctions against Belarus for organizing the flow of migrants from the countries of the Middle East to the EU. Belarus announced that they would take "tough, asymmetric, but adequate measures."
- On December 6, 2021, Belarus banned the import of a number of goods from the EU, the USA, and other countries in response to sanctions. Products, including meat, milk, confectionery, salt, vegetables, fruits, and nuts, were banned.