MEPs: All Officials of Lukashenka's Regime Will Be Brought to Justice

The European Parliament called for an international investigation of the crimes of the Belarusian authorities.

MEPs called for "an international investigation of the crimes committed by the Belarusian state" and the introduction of a "global sanctions regime in the field of human rights." Debates on Belarus's situation were held in the European Parliament on Tuesday, December 1, dw.com reports.

During the debates, the report of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on the situation in Belarus "after the rigged presidential elections" was presented. Anais Marin, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation with human rights in Belarus, also spoke. The MPs condemned "the continuing brutal repression by state authorities and security forces against peaceful demonstrators," the statement on the European Parliament's website said.

New sanctions against the Belarusian authorities

Among the gross violations of human rights in Belarus are named "arbitrary mass arrests of demonstrators, representatives of civil society and independent journalists, documented torture of detainees." As the chairman of the European Parliament delegation for relations with Belarus, Robert Biedroń, said, it is necessary "to ensure that those who gave orders or committed atrocities are brought to justice."

MEPs called on the European Union to introduce new personal sanctions "against individual criminals in Belarus." "All officials of the regime responsible for grave crimes should be held accountable," the statement says after the debate.

Crimes of the Lukashenka regime

A few days earlier, on November 26, a debate was held in the European Parliament on the death of Raman Bandarenka in Minsk. In the adopted resolution, the responsibility for the death of the activist was assigned to the authorities of Belarus. According to the MEPs, an international center should be created to collect evidence of the "crimes of Lukashenka's regime." The resolution notes that the European Parliament itself must equip a mission to collect facts about human rights violations.

On October 2, the EU summit participants agreed to impose sanctions against 40 Belarusian officials for falsifying the presidential elections and repressing protesters. According to the head of the European Council, Charles Michel, Aliaksandr Lukashenka, whose legitimacy as the President of Belarus is not recognized by the EU, has not yet come under sanctions.

Mass protests in Belarus began on the night of August 10, after the CEC of Belarus announced Lukashenka's victory in the presidential elections with more than 80% of the vote.