Brussels, 23/03/2012 (Agence Europe) - The EU Foreign Affairs Council toughened sanctions against the Belarusian regime on Friday 23 March, imposing a travel ban on and freezing the assets of 12 persons “benefiting from and supporting the regime as well as persons responsible for the repression of civil society and the democratic opposition”. These 12 are thought to be judges and business people. Twenty-nine entities “which are controlled by persons subject to restrictive measures due to their role in supporting the regime” have also had their assets frozen. These include the companies of businessman Yuriy Chizh, apart one subsidiary - an exception won by Slovenia. “Our decision today comes in response to the negative developments we have seen in Belarus. The situation is getting worse and the authorities are tightening their grip on civil society”, said EU High Representative Catherine Ashton. French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé said that, “at the last moment”, the regime offered to release some prisoners in order to avoid sanctions, but that this was not enough for the Council which calls for the release of all political prisoners and for transparent elections. In their conclusions, ministers make the point that EU restrictive measures “remain open and under constant review”. Ministers say they are prepared to add further names if political prisoners are not released. They call on the Belarusian authorities to stop all harassment of members of the opposition, human rights activists, journalists and civil society, and not to hinder their freedom of movement. The Council again urges Belarus to respect internationally recognised diplomatic immunities and privileges of EU diplomatic representations and their personnel in Minsk and to stop the ongoing harassment and intimidation. Ministers also discussed how to coordinate efforts with a view to the return of ambassadors to Minsk. (CG/transl.rt)