Today, on August 5, the EU Council decided to impose restrictive measures on 28 more people for their role in internal repression and human rights violations in Belarus. UNN reports this with reference to the press service of the EU Council.
Details
Sanctions were imposed, in particular, on two deputy heads of the Main Department for Combating Organized Crime and Corruption (GUBAZiK) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. As noted, the GUBAZiK is one of the main bodies responsible for political persecution in Belarus, including "arbitrary and illegal arrests and ill-treatment, including torture, of activists and members of civil society.
Restrictive measures were also imposed on representatives of the judiciary, namely prosecutors and judges, who, as the EU Council pointed out, "passed politically motivated sentences, in particular against citizens who protested against the fraudulent 2020 presidential election or simply expressed their opinion against the Lukashenko regime." In addition, the sanctions list also includes heads of various correctional institutions (prisons and pre-trial detention centers).
Thus, sanctions were imposed on Iryna Akulovich, director general of the largest state news agency Belarusian Telegraphic Agency (BelTA), Mikita Rachilouski, host of the Senate TV program on STV and chairman of the Youth Council of the National Assembly of Belarus, and Dzmitry Zhuk, former head of Lukashenka's press service and BelTA director general.
"These propagandists of the regime willingly provided the Belarusian public with false information about repressions carried out by state authorities, spread disinformation prepared by both Belarusian and Russian authorities, and promoted hatred of the democratic opposition and civil society," the EU Council said in a statement.
The sanctions include the freezing of assets. Individuals are also subject to a travel ban that prevents them from entering or transiting the EU.
In total, the EU's restrictive measures against Belarus currently apply to 261 individuals and 37 legal entities.
The sanctions were adopted on the eve of the fourth anniversary of the fraudulent presidential election in Belarus in August 2020. In its conclusions of February 19, 2024, the EU Council expressed deep concern about the deteriorating human rights situation in Belarus and strongly condemned the ongoing campaigns of persecution and intimidation of all segments of society by the Belarusian regime.