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EU publishes names of 13 Belarusians added to blacklist

The European Union on May 24 published an updated list of Belarusian citizens subject to travel bans and asset freezes over the ongoing crackdown on government opponents, revealing the names of the 13 people added to the list by the Council of the European Union on Monday, BelaPAN said.

Added to the list were Judges Natallya Pykina, Natallya Chatvyartkova, Ala Bulash and Zhanna Brysina, who handed down harsh sentences in the trials of post-election protesters earlier this month, as well as Alyaksandr Barowski, Dzmitry Simanowski, Syarhey Zhukowski who were the public prosecutors in the trials.

The sanctions were imposed on Syarhey Mazowka, the public prosecutor in the trial of opposition activists Zmitser Dashkevich and Eduard Lobaw who were arrested one day ahead of the main voting day in December's presidential election and sent to prison on what is widely viewed as trumped-up charges.

Natallya Merkul, a school principal responsible for the politically motivated dismissal of history teacher Natallya Illinich, and Svyatlana Akulich, a judge of the Pukhavichy District Court who turned down Ms. Illinich's appeal against her dismissal, were also included in the blacklist. So were Uladzislaw Shykaraw, a judge of the Chyhunachny District Court in Vitsyebsk, and Dzmitry Alyaksandraw, a judge of the Supreme Economic Court who rejected an appeal by Avtoradio against its closure, as well as Valery Vakulchyk, chief of the Presidential Administration's Operational and Analytical Center.

On January 31, the Council of the EU imposed asset freezes and travel bans on 156 Belarusian government officials and other individuals who are deemed involved in election frauds and the post-election crackdown on political opponents. On March 21, the Council extended its blacklist to place on it 19 more individuals, including senior police officials, judges and university rectors.