BNR RADA CALLS FOR SANCTIONS AGAINST LUKASHENKA’S REGIME AND FOR PRESSURE ON RUSSIA
The Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic calls on the international community to react immediately to the unprecedented political terror that the authoritarian regime of former President Aliaksandr Lukashenka is unleashing against Belarusian society.
The events of 2020 in Belarus are the largest and most brutal suppression of peaceful democratic protests in a European country in many decades.
The accomplices of police terror in Belarus are public and private enterprises that exert illegal pressure on striking workers, or banks that illegally confiscate money raised by to help victims of repression. Some foreign companies are involved in the crimes of the Lukashenka regime as well, such as mobile operators restricting communication during protests by order of the authorities to prevent the prompt publication of information about the events.
The BNR Rada calls for the widest and strongest sanctions against the Lukashenka regime and its accomplices. These sanctions may include an embargo on imports of petroleum products, potash fertilizers and other products of Belarusian state-owned enterprises, disconnection of Belarusian banks from SWIFT, seizure of foreign accounts of state-owned enterprises and other measures. The security forces of the Lukashenka regime, responsible for systematic violence and killings, should be declared criminal organizations: these include OMON, SOBR, the KGB and others.
The BNR Rada calls, at the same time, to exert all possible international influence on the Russian Federation, whose political, material and propagandist support is a key factor in maintaining the dictatorship in Belarus.
By continuing to support the Lukashenka regime, the Russian Federation shares responsibility for the political terror in Belarus, for the torture and killing of peaceful Belarusians.
There is a consensus in Belarusian society about the unacceptability of violence and the need for an open and honest nationwide political dialogue. The vast majority of Belarusians do not accept the methods of Lukashenka’s rule, dispersal of peaceful protests, torture and assassination of political opponents. Belarus wants to be a free democratic European country and have friendly relations with all its neighbors. Aliaksandr Lukashenka is not the legitimate leader of the country and will be brought to justice by the future legitimate authorities of the Republic of Belarus.
