EU sanctions 28 accused of rights abuses and links to crackdown in Belarus

BRUSSELS -- The European Union on Monday slapped sanctions on 28 officials accused of human rights violations in Belarus and links to the ongoing crackdown against opponents of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko.

In a move just ahead of the anniversary of the disputed 2020 elections that brought Lukashenko to power, the EU said it had frozen the assets of prosecutors and judges “who have issued politically motivated sentences.” They were also banned from traveling in the 27-nation bloc.

Others targeted included senior officials at the Belarus interior ministry’s department for combating organized crime and corruption as well as top officials at some of the country’s prisons and alleged “regime propagandists” working in the media.

The EU said the ministerial department “is one of the main bodies responsible for political persecution in Belarus, including arbitrary and unlawful arrests and ill-treatment, including torture, of activists and members of civil society.”

Last Thursday, two Belarusian journalists working for news outlets that the government has declared extremist were handed prison sentences in a closed-door trial, the latest in a persistent crackdown on dissent and independent journalism.

The repression began as huge protests broke out i n response to the disputed Aug. 9, 2020 presidential election that gave Lukashenko a sixth term in office. The EU insists the poll was fraudulent.

More than 35,000 people have been arrested in the crackdown. Many prominent opposition figures have fled the country and others have been sentenced to long prison terms. The rights group Viasna says there are nearly 1,400 political prisoners currently in Belarus.

The EU said in a statement that it “stands with the people of Belarus and unwaveringly supports the Belarusian people’s quest for a free, democratic, sovereign and independent Belarus as part of a peaceful Europe.”