Canada imposes more sanctions on Belarus

By Barry Ellsworth

TRENTON, Canada (AA) - Canada marked the first anniversary of Belarus’ “fraudulent” presidential election Monday by imposing new sanctions on the beleaguered central European country.

"These new measures impose restrictions on key sectors of the Belarusian economy and minimize Belarusian state actors’ access to international finance," Global Affairs Canada, the government department that manages Canada's diplomatic and consular relations, said in a statement obtained by Anadolu Agency.

"The targeted sectors include transferrable securities and money market instruments, debt financing, insurance and reinsurance, petroleum products and potassium chloride products," it said.

Besides rigging the election, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko and his government stand accused of "blatant disregard for human rights," said Marc Garneau, Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs, in a statement.

"Since [the election], the grave injustices carried out by the Belarusian government against its own people have not stopped," the Global Affairs statement said.

"The regime, led by Aleksandr Lukashenko, continues to muzzle political opposition, and crackdowns on independent media have only escalated.

"The reckless forced diversion of Ryanair Flight 4978 to arrest Belarusian journalist Roman Protasevich and his companion, Sofia Sapega, was a particularly brazen attack on the independent media, but far from the only one," it added.

To date, Canada has sanctioned 72 Belarusian officials and pledged more than CAN$3 million (US$2.38 million) to support organizations seeking to advance democracy in Belarus

The US and the UK also announced new sanctions on Belarus on Monday.