The US Senate adopted The “Belarus Democracy, Human Rights, and Sovereignty Act”; European and US politicians appeal to Rene Fazel regarding the relocation of the Ice Hockey World Championship; on 22 December the Belarusian authorities rounded up several journalists and members of the Coordination Council; new videos showing security forces shooting at demonstrators from point-blank range surface
22 December 2020 | BYHelp-Mediagroup
Source: facebook.com/vtsesler
The US Senate adopted The “Belarus Democracy, Human Rights, and Sovereignty Act”
The US Senate approved The “Belarus Democracy, Human Rights, and Sovereignty Act”. “This bipartisan bill renews the sanctions against the Belarusian government officials hindering a democratic transition,” Congressman Christopher Henry Smith, the author of the draft, said in his statement.
The Belarus Democracy Act includes the following provisions:
- it recognizes the Coordination Council as a legitimate institution to participate in the dialogue on the peaceful transfer of power and renounces Alexander Lukashenko as “the elected leader of Belarus”;
- calls for new presidential and parliamentary elections to be held in a free and fair manner in accordance with OSCE standards;
- calls for the release of all political prisoners without any conditions;
- supports the Belarusians’ pursuit of freedom of religion;
- the act allows the assistance in promoting democracy and civil society in Belarus;
- declares that the USA does not recognize the inclusion of Belarus in the Union State with Russia;
- requires the United States to have a strategy to promote broadcasting, Internet freedom and access to information;
- will help the independent Belarusian media and the representatives of the IT sector.
The document provides for the individual sanctions for all members of the Lukashenko regime. Financial sanctions are also planned. The new law prohibits financial aid to the Lukashenko regime (loans, guarantees, insurance), with the exception of humanitarian aid. The US financial intelligence plans to locate and seize the personal assets of Alexander Lukashenko and his family members as well as his close associates.
The law on Belarus is to be signed by the current US President Donald Trump within 10 days.
“The puck is in your corner” – MEPs sign an appeal letter to Rene Fazel
The political pressure on the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) with the demand to withdraw the World Championship from Belarus, in particular from the dictator Lukashenko, is increasing. The EU parliamentarians write a letter to IIHF President Fazel. The letter has already been signed by 46 parliamentarians. According to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, a similar letter is currently being prepared by the members of Congress in Washington, DC.
“Dictators like Lukashenko use sports to cement their brutal regime and simulate their legitimacy,” the letter says. “Mr. Fazel, we believe you will be able to show the same high level of integrity as your athletes display. The puck is in your corner!”
Earlier, Belarusian basketball player, Yelena Leuchanka, who had gone through detention and arrest, also wrote an open letter to Rene Fazel urging him not to support the Lukashenko regime by holding the high-profile international competition in Belarus.
The 2021 Ice Hockey World Championship was supposed to be held in Minsk and Riga. However, taking into consideration the terrible events taking place in Belarus, as well as the emergence of the growing body of evidence of the chairman of the Belarusian Ice Hockey Federation, Dmitry Baskov’s involvement in the death of Raman Bandarenka, the world community calls for the transfer of this international competition to another country.
Source: pressball.by
The response of the Belarusian authorities to the third package of EU sanctions – from the ban on the entry of European officials to the closure of programs
In response to the EU sanctions package adopted on 17 December the Belarusian Government intends to restrict the activities of a number of political foundations in Belarus, as well as revise the implementation of a number of humanitarian, educational, and cultural programs that are carried out by the corresponding political institutions in Belarus, including those operating under the umbrella of the embassies.
“We have carefully studied the entire so-called third package of restrictive measures, and, of course, we proposed our response to this package. It also includes an increase in the corresponding list of individuals. This means that a number of additional individuals who have EU countries’ citizenship will not be able to enter the territory of Belarus and the territory of the Union State, given that our list is equivalent to the Russian Federation’s list of the same kind. Of course, we will take a number of legal actions in response to the absolutely unjustified inclusion of a number of enterprises and individuals in the EU list,” said Belarusian Foreign Minister Uladzimir Makei.
Source: minsknews.by
Authorities are rounding up journalists
The founder of the Press Club Belarus organization, Yuliya Slutskaya, was detained at the National Airport in Minsk when she was coming back from her vacation with her daughter and grandchildren. Slutskaya was taken to the Financial Investigation Department. Her apartment was searched, and it is not clear what the search was connected to.
The searches took place in the office of the organization, at the residence of the director of the Press Club, Siarhei Alsheuski, director of the “Academy Press Club”, Siarhei Yakupau, as well as the program director Alla Sharko. Even Alla Sharko’s lawyer, Siarhei Zikratski, was not allowed to be present at the time of the search. At the same time, the journalists waiting at the entrance for the end of investigative actions were also detained. Later on they were released, but Alla was taken to the Financial Investigation Department.
The “Press Club” is an informal association of Belarusian journalists and a platform for professional growth. Its mission is to preserve the profession of a journalist in the face of the decline of its trustworthiness and economic appeal until the socio-political and economic transformation of Belarus becomes possible. It is also a popular platform for journalistic trainings, lectures and other professional events.
Source: TUT.BY
The authorities are persecuting everyone related to the Coordination Council
On 21 December the General Prosecutor’s Office announced the initiation of a number of criminal cases including cases against the members of the Coordination Council. In Minsk Kseniya Lutskina, a member of the main composition of the Coordination Council, was detained. Later Kseniya’s place of residence was searched in the presence of her young son, who was very frightened. Until the end of August Kseniya had been working at the State Belarusian Television. But then she voluntarily quit the position as a special correspondent because of her disagreement with the policy of the leadership.
Source: TUT.BY
The well-known Belarusian musician (band J:mors) and a member of the main composition of the Coordination Council, Uladzimir Pugach, was summoned for questioning to the Investigative Committee.
Source: TUT.BY
New videos about the events of 9–11 August – security forces are unlawfully shooting at demonstrators
Several videos, capturing the events of mid-August, surfaced on the Internet. On 11 August in Minsk a security officer holding a weapon threatens people and screams “I shoot without notice, *****!” According to the reader who had sent the video, the authorities were trying to grab the phone off his hands. “It was our luck that they were in a hurry. The driver was able to escape,” he remembers.
Another video, published by the city magazine “Binokl” on its telegram channel, depicts the moment when security forces were dispersing demonstrators in Brest on 10 August using weapons.
A surgeon of the Brest City Emergency Hospital said that during that day about 100 people had come to seek help, 29 of them were hospitalized including 12 people hospitalized in the first surgical department, most of them with gunshot wounds.
Source: TUT.BY
For more information on the events of 22 December 2020, please visit Infocenter Free Belarus 2020:
