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From: TT
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Photo: AP / TT
People also protested in the Belarusian capital Minsk on Friday after a 31-year-old critic of the regime died in the city.
Following the death of another protester critical of the regime in Belarus, the EU is threatening new sanctions against President Alexander Lukashenko and his government in Minsk.
“This is a scandalous and shameful consequence of the actions of the Belarusian authorities,” said Peter Stano, spokesman for EU Foreign Minister Josep Borrell.
The 31-year-old man died on Thursday after being operated on for several hours in a hospital. Then during a sharp confrontation by the police in a Minsk square. His injuries occurred “reportedly through the brutality of plainclothes policemen,” Stano said.
Mass demonstrations have taken place in Belarus since the highly contested elections on August 9. Since the authoritarian leader Lukashenko declared victory, hundreds of thousands of Belarusians have demonstrated demanding the resignation of the president.
The regime is responsible
Thousands of people have been arrested and there are many testimonies of assaults and torture by the police. Several opposition figures have already died, and the death of the 31-year-old has once again caused people to protest in the streets and squares.
Stano mentions that the EU holds the Belarusian authorities responsible for violence against its own people and for an atmosphere in which “lawless and violent acts can occur”.
He also said that Brussels demanded the immediate release of all unjust detainees in Belarus, including political prisoners, and that all human rights violations be investigated and that those responsible be openly and correctly prosecuted.
“Additional sanctions”
Stano also waves the penalty weapon:
– The European Union has already imposed sanctions on 55 people responsible for violent repression and threats, and is ready to impose more sanctions.
Lukashenko and several other senior government officials face sanctions.
Opposition leader and presidential candidate Svetlana Tichanovskaya, who is living in exile in Lithuania, says a minute’s silence should be observed for the 31-year-old.
– Let’s do it for a man who was murdered because he wanted to live in a free country, she says.
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