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EU considers blacklisting 135 more Belarusians

The European Union plans to seriously tighten sanctions against Minsk, Gunnar Wiegand, of the EU’s European External Action Service, said in Strasbourg on Thursday, speaking at a meeting of the European Parliament`s Committee on Foreign Affairs, BelaPAN said.

In particular, the EU considers adding 135 new people to the bloc’s existing travel ban and asset-freeze list that currently targets more than 200 Belarusians, including Alyaksandr Lukashenka, said Mr. Wiegand, director for Russia, Eastern Partnership, Central Asia, Regional Cooperation and the OSCE at the Service.

He expressed hope that the EU member states would reach agreement on the matter in the next few weeks.

There are also plans to ban one or two Belarusian companies more from doing business in the EU, according to an EU diplomat.

The EU wants to reinforce its restrictive measures in order to punish those responsible for the ongoing crackdown on journalists, human rights defenders and other civil society activists in the country, the diplomat said, adding that a decision to extend the blacklist might be made at a meeting of the EU foreign ministers on January 23.

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. Last month, it added the judge and the prosecutor in the trial of prominent human rights defender Ales Byalyatski to the list.

The list currently features 201 Belarusians.