Original title: The first anniversary of Lukashenko’s election, the United States announced new sanctions against Belarus
US President Biden said on August 9 local time that new sanctions will be imposed on Belarus. The US announced that this decision coincides with the first anniversary of Belarusian President Lukashenko’s re-election as the country’s president. The US believes that this election is “full of irregularities.”
According to the Associated Press report on August 10, Biden said in a statement: “The United States will continue to defend human rights and freedom of speech, and at the same time, together with our allies and partners, hold Lukashenko accountable.”
The sanctions announced by the U.S. Treasury Department include Belaruskali OAO, one of the largest state-owned enterprises in Belarus, potash producer Belaruskali OAO, the Belarusian Olympic Committee, and 15 private companies that are said to have ties to the Lukashenko regime.
The US accuses the Belarusian Olympic Committee of facilitating money laundering, evasion of sanctions and visa bans. The IOC has also accused the Belarusian Olympic Committee of “failure to protect the country’s athletes from political discrimination and oppression.”
According to previous reports, on August 1, local time, Belarusian sprinter Zimanusskaya, who participated in the Tokyo Olympics, declared that he had refused to return home because of “worries about the safety of personal life.” She called the police at Tokyo Haneda Airport for protection, saying that she was “forcibly taken away from the Olympic Village” by the coaching team. She also said she was under pressure from officials of the country’s Olympic Committee. On August 6, the International Olympic Committee announced that two Belarusian national team coaches had been disqualified and left the Olympic Village. It is reported that the athlete has reached the country of asylum in Poland. Lukashenko responded to this on August 9, stating that the athlete was manipulated by external forces.
While announcing the sanctions, the White House stated that it had also noticed the “crash landing of a passenger plane” in May this year. This incident triggered a strong condemnation and siege of Belarus by Western countries.
On May 23 this year, when an Irish Ryanair passenger plane flew to the border between Lithuania and Belarus, the Belarusian authorities said that there was a “bomb threat” on board and sent MiG fighter jets to accompany it to make an emergency landing at the Belarusian capital Minsk airport. . After inspection, no bombs were found on the passenger plane, but the Belarusian opposition Plotasevic and his girlfriend who took the passenger plane were arrested by the Belarusian authorities.
Belarus held presidential elections on August 9, 2020. According to data from the country’s Central Election Commission, Lukashenko received 80.08% of the votes and was elected president for the sixth time. According to the Russian Satellite News Agency, large-scale protests broke out across Belarus that night.
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