August 5, Pozirk. The European Union has imposed personal sanctions against 28 Belarusian law enforcers, judges and propaganda workers, marking the fourth anniversary of the rigged 2020 presidential election in Belarus, the Council of the European Union reports.
The list of sanctioned individuals features Iryna Akułovič, CEO of the BiełTA state-run news agency, TV host Mikita Račyłoŭski and Dźmitryj Žuk, head of the Belarus.Segodnya publishing house.
“These regime propagandists willingly provided the Belarusian public with false information about repression perpetrated by the State authorities, spread disinformation produced by both Belarusian and Russian authorities and promoted hatred towards democratic opposition and civil society,” the statement said.
The new EU sanctions also target judges who passed politically-motivated sentences, heads of correctional facilities and two senior officials at the interior ministry’s organized crime unit, described as “one of the main bodies responsible for political persecution in Belarus.”
A total of 261 people and 37 companies are now under the EU sanctions. They are subject to an asset freeze, while individuals are also banned from travelling to the EU.
Over the past few years, democratic countries have imposed multiple restrictions on Belarus over human rights abuses, alleged vote rigging in the 2020 presidential election, a brutal crackdown on protesters, the forced landing of a Ryanair flight, a migration crisis at the European Union border, as well as support of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
