[ad_1]
- Switzerland has imposed sanctions on the ruler Alexander Lukashenko due to the violence that followed the controversial presidential elections in Belarus.
- Financial penalties and an entry ban are applied to him and 14 other people, including Lukashenko’s son.
Assets that fall under the lock must be reported to the Secretary of State for the Economy (Seco) with immediate effect. It was not clear at first whether Lukashenko had deposited money in Swiss banks. In September, Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis told the National Council that the Federal Council had no knowledge of Lukashenko’s assets and those around him in Swiss banks.
With this decision, the Federal Council followed the resolutions passed by the European Union on November 6. The Swiss government accuses the 15 people of being responsible for the use of violence and arbitrary arrests after the controversial August elections in Belarus.
“Last dictator in Europe”
Switzerland had already imposed financial and travel sanctions on more than 40 former and current officials in Belarus as of mid-October. At that time, Switzerland also joined the EU sanctions. The Federal Council imposed the first coercive measures against state representatives in 2006.
Alexander Lukashenko, 66, is considered the “last dictator of Europe”. After the election overshadowed by accusations of manipulation, he had been declared the winner with 80.1 percent.
Svetlana Tichanovskaya sees the democratic movement as the winner. She agreed to temporarily lead the country after Lukashenko resigned. The movement also calls for an end to police violence and the release of all political prisoners. The protests left several dead, hundreds injured and around 30,000 arrests.
St. Gallen activist jailed
Last Monday, a Swiss-Belarusian citizen of St. Gallen was sentenced in Minsk to a prison term of two and a half years. The 51-year-old woman was arrested at a women’s rally on September 19 in Minsk.
Previously, 16 federal MPs from the SP, Greens, CVP and EPP had written an open letter to the Belarusian Minister of Justice, the Minister of the Interior and the Attorney General demanding the release of the Swiss woman. You see the woman as a political prisoner.
On Friday, the Federal Council again expressed “very concerned” about the tense situation in the landlocked country of Eastern Europe. In a statement he called for dialogue between the government and civil society. He called on Belarus to comply with international human rights obligations.
