EU blacklists 21 more Belarusians
The Council of the European Union on February 27 added 21 new names to the EU’s list of Belarusians subject to restrictive measures in connection with the ongoing crackdown on government opponents, BelaPAN said.
The press office of the EU Council said that the updated list would be
published in the EU's Official Journal in the following few days, and
that most of the newly blacklisted individuals were judges, prosecutors
and police officers.
According to the press office, Belarusian businessman Yury Chyzh was not entered in the blacklist.
On
January 31, 2011, the EU Council imposed asset freezes and travel bans
on 156 Belarusian government officials and other individuals for their
role in "the violations of international electoral standards" in the
December 14-19, 2010 presidential election and a post-election crackdown
on civil society and pro-democratic supporters. The Council blacklisted
19 more Belarusians in March, 13 in May, four in June and 16 in
October, placing on the list mostly judges and prosecutors involved in
the prosecution of post-election protesters. In December, it added the
judge and the public prosecutor in the trial of prominent human rights
defender Ales Byalyatski to the list.
Monday's decision by the EU Council increased the number of Belarusians on the blacklist to 222.
Earlier
this month, the Brussels-based Office for a Democratic Belarus, more
precisely its head, Volha Stuzhynskaya, came out with a proposal to
shorten the EU’s blacklist by excluding university rectors, journalists
and persons who no longer serve in the positions in which they allegedly
took part in the persecution of government opponents.
The proposal drew severe criticism from pro-democracy groups inside and outside Belarus.
On
February 10, the EU Council broadened the criteria for imposing
sanctions on Belarusian individuals and entities in response to human
rights abuse and the persecution of the government's political
opponents.
The Council adopted a regulation to this effect on
February 10. "Those amendments broaden the criteria for imposing
admission restrictions and on asset freezes," said the Council’s press
office. "Accordingly, such sanctions can be applied to persons
responsible for serious violations of human rights or the repression of
civil society and democratic opposition, and to persons and entities
benefitting from or supporting the Lukashenka regime."