US Extended Sanctions against Belarus

The US State Department extended visa restrictions to 39 more people for undermining democracy in Belarus. And the US Treasury has imposed sanctions against the Central Election Commission of Belarus, the Minsk OMON and the Alfa special forces unit. The US State Department has imposed visa restrictions on 39 people responsible for "undermining Belarusian democracy." United States Secretary of State Michael Pompeo announced this on Wednesday, December 23. Similar restrictions apply to 63 people, he added. Washington continues to support international efforts to independently investigate election violations in Belarus, human rights violations and subsequent repression, Pompeo said. “We support the courageous Belarusian people and their right to free and fair elections,” the head of the State Department concluded. US Treasury Sanctions: CEC of Belarus and Minsk OMON At the same time, the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions against the Central Election Commission of Belarus, the Alpha subdivision of the State Security Committee, the Central Internal Affairs Directorate of the Minsk City Executive Committee and the Minsk OMON. In addition, the first deputy head of the Belarusian Ministry of Internal Affairs Gennady Kazakevich was included in the sanctions list of the Ministry of Finance. "Belarusians are constantly trying to peacefully exercise their basic democratic rights, to which the state has repeatedly responded with brutal suppression," Finance Minister Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. Such actions by the official Minsk are unacceptable, he stressed. Protests in Belarus after presidential elections For more than four months in Belarus, mass protests and strikes against the falsification of the results of the presidential elections held on August 9 have not ceased. The Central Election Commission again declared Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled the republic for over 26 years, the winner of the elections. The demonstrators accuse the authorities of fraud and demand new, fair elections and the release of Belarusian political prisoners, as well as an end to the arbitrariness of the security forces against the protesters. Opposition representatives formed a Coordinating Council to transfer power, but in the end, all members of the council's presidium were either arrested or ended up abroad.