UK to impose sanctions on Belarus over ‘rigged election’ crackdown

LONDON AFP, 24 Sept, 2020 - Britain said Thursday it was preparing sanctions against those in Belarus responsible for “rigging” the August 9 presidential election and for the subsequent crackdown on protests against President Alexander Lukashenko.   Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the UK was initiating its own sanctions, in coordination with the United States and Canada, after the European Union’s measures were delayed by Cyprus.   

 “Given that delay, given Lukashenko’s fraudulent inauguration, I have directed the FCDO sanction team to prepare Magnitsky sanctions for those responsible for the serious human rights violations,” he told parliament.   

Kremlin-critic lawyer Sergei Magnitsky’s 2009 death in a Moscow prison from an untreated illness led several Western countries to impose sanctions on Russian officials, which have since been mirrored against other countries.   

Raab added London was working with Washington and Ottawa “to prepare appropriate listings as matter of urgency” against Belarusian authorities.