The EU and the US are considering personal sanctions against more than 40 officials and state journalists in Belarus for their roles in the rigging of a recent election and crackdowns on civil society there, according to Western diplomats and government officials.
A list of officials under consideration includes not only President Alexander Lukashenko and his top staff but also extends to government ministers and security officials, as well as to prosecutors and judges involved in trying anti-government demonstrators and sentencing them to jail.
The EU and the US announced an intention to pursue punitive sanctions immediately after Lukashenko's landslide re-election victory on March 19, which the West and the opposition have denounced as a sham.
The draft list of officials, a copy of which was obtained by the New York Times, reflects the work of diplomats in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, in the days since the election, and after crackdowns against peaceful protesters on March 24 and 25. It includes 43 officials or state journalists by name, and four regional election officials by position.
"We have drawn up a list, as the European Union heads of mission, and sent it to Brussels," a Western ambassador in Minsk said by telephone on Tuesday, referring to the EU's offices in Belgium.
The exact form European sanctions might take has not yet been determined and requires agreement by the entire union, but is likely to include bans on the officials' travel to the 25 EU countries, the ambassador said. Other steps might be taken as well, including freezing of assets.
The ambassador spoke anonymously because deliberations about which Belarussian officials should face sanctions are confidential. He declined to discuss any officials by name.
The list is expected to be reviewed, and perhaps adopted, when the foreign ministers from the union meet in Luxembourg on April 10.
US and European officials said that although some names would probably be removed and others added, the speed of the list's creation and the collaboration between Washington and European governments reflected a resolve to try to apply pressure to Lukashenko's circle.
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