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Belarus has faced massive protests for the fourth month in a row since the presidential election on August 9, which was declared the winner by Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled the country since 1994. The opposition and Western democracies view these elections as rigged.
Mr. Lukashenko has also been President of the Belarus Olympic Committee for 23 years.
After a meeting of its executive board on Wednesday, the IOC said it was taking action “on the growing number of alarming reports from athletes, officials and sports in Belarus.”
For the past 16 weeks, thousands of Belarusians have taken to the streets every Sunday to demand the resignation of Lukashenko, the release of political prisoners and new elections.
Thousands of protesters were detained by the militia during the protests, many of whom later said they had suffered violence and torture from officials.
The IOC said it would consider unidentified “appropriate measures or sanctions” against the Belarusian Olympic Committee for possible violations of the Olympic Charter. However, the IOC did not specifically mention Mr. Lukashenko.
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