On Monday 16 December, the EU Council imposed sanctions on a further 26 people and two entities in Belarus, in view of the situation in the country.
These sanctions apply to eleven judges, who handed down “politically motivated” sentences, and to the President of the Belarusian Republican Bar Association, deemed responsible for the repression of civil society and the democratic opposition, according to the Council. Four directors and deputy directors of penitentiary establishments (prisons and pre-trial detention centres) and the head of a medical unit at one of these establishments, where a number of political prisoners face “inhumane conditions and are subject to abuses”, are also subject to measures.
In addition, business owners, co-owners, partners and board members who benefited from the Lukashenko regime and helped to circumvent EU sanctions are being punished.
The EU is also imposing measures against Vlate Logistik LLC, a Belarusian transport and warehousing company which owns two border crossings with the EU and benefits from significant tax advantages and benefits from the Lukashenko regime, and against its shareholders: Aleh Barabanau, Aleh Herasim, Aleh Paitrou, Dzmitry Zamulevich et Uladzimir Arkadzyeu.
Ruzekspeditsiya LLC, a Belarusian company which benefits from the regime and facilitates the circumvention of EU sanctions by participating in the delivery of cars banned from sale, supply, transfer or export from the EU to Belarus, and its owner, Aleh Arlou, are also subject to restrictive measures.
In total, the measures now apply to 287 individuals and 39 entities.
To see the legal documents, go to https://aeur.eu/f/etc (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)