OTTAWA —
Overseas Affairs Minister Melanie Joly is saying new sanctions on Belarus right this moment in response to its help for Russia’s struggle on Ukraine.
Joly says in a press release that Belarusian management is enabling human-rights violations and permitting the nation to function a launching pad for Russia’s assaults.
Canada is including 22 Belarusian officers to the sanctions checklist, together with people who find themselves concerned within the stationing and transport of Russian navy personnel and tools.
The sanctions additionally have an effect on 16 Belarusian corporations throughout the navy manufacturing, tech, engineering, banking and rail sectors.
The announcement comes because the nation’s exiled opposition chief, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, visits Ottawa for conferences with Joly, members of Parliament and senators.
Joly says the 2 intend to debate the complicity of President Alexander Lukashenko’s regime within the struggle and the significance of upholding democracy in Belarus.
Lukashenko got here to energy in 2020 elections broadly thought-about to be fraudulent.
Tsikhanouskaya, the principle opposition challenger, fled to Lithuania after the vote below official stress, and the federal government unleashed a sweeping crackdown on protests, arresting greater than 35,000 individuals.
“President Lukashenko’s full disregard for human rights, each domestically and overseas, is unjustifiable,” Joly’s assertion says.
“These measures will exert additional stress on the Belarusian management. President Lukashenko should stop being an instrument of the Russian regime.”
With information from The Related Press
