G7 leaders have called on Belarusian authorities to hold new elections, warning of sanctions

“We call on the regime to: change course and implement all the recommendations of the Organization of Independent Experts of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) within the framework of the Moscow Mechanism; establish a constructive dialogue with all sectors of society, to hold new free and fair elections ”, said the final report of the G7 summit.

It highlights that the G7 leaders “are deeply concerned about the ongoing attacks on human rights, fundamental freedoms and international law by the Belarusian authorities, such as the crash landing of flight FR4978 and the arrest of an independent journalist and his shooting guard”.

“We will work together to hold perpetrators accountable for their actions, including through sanctions, and we will continue to support civil society, independent media and the pursuit of human rights in Belarus,” the statement said.

Belarusian authoritarian leader Aliaksandr Lukashenko ordered on May 23 to send a fighter plane to intercept a Ryanair plane flying from Athens to Vilnius, with opposition blogger Raman Pratasevic and his friend, Sofia, a Russian citizen studying in Vilnius, among the passengers.

Following last August’s presidential elections in Belarus, which the opposition and Western democracies see as manipulated, Belarus has been rocked for months by unprecedented mass protests. Mr. Lukashenko was declared the winner of that vote and secured for the sixth term.

S. Cichanouskaja, who challenged A. Lukashenko in the elections, was forced to withdraw to Lithuania after them. In suppressing the mass protests, Belarusian officials detained thousands of people, many of whom were sentenced to severe prison terms.