The United States warned Belarus on Wednesday (March 31st) that it will reimpose sanctions on nine state-owned companies if Minsk does not release the prisoners arrested during the crackdown on pro-democracy protests.
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In the wake of contested elections in 2006, Washington banned all transactions with these petrochemical and industrial companies, including the oil holding company Belneftekhim.
The US Treasury then suspended these sanctions in 2015, welcoming some progress, but the US government warned that this suspension may not be renewed at the next deadline, April 24.
“
Unfortunately, we see that the human rights situation has deteriorated, probably as never before in the history of independent Belarus, with more than 300 political prisoners currently being held,
” US diplomacy spokesman Ned Price told the audience. the press.
He demanded that the authorities in Minsk "
release all political prisoners
" if they want to avoid a return of these sanctions.
The opposition in Belarus contests the re-election of Alexander Lukashenko, in power since 1994, in the August presidential election, deemed fraudulent.
But the great protest movement that shook the country last year was weakened by the constant repression orchestrated by the authorities.
Despite European and American sanctions targeting Alexander Lukashenko and senior officials in his government, the Russian-backed president gave no sign of opening up and confined himself to discussing vague constitutional revisions without setting an exact timetable. or detail the content.