The European Union has imposed sanctions on the president of Belarus and 14 other officials over their roles in the security crackdown launched after protests against the country’s contested presidential election.
An EU spokesman said that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko was put on the sanctions list along with his son and national security adviser Viktor Lukashenko.
The sanctions ban the listed individuals from travelling within the European Union and put a freeze on their assets.
EU citizens and companies are forbidden from providing them with funds.
Protests have rocked Belarus since the August 9 election, and more than 15,000 people in the country have been arrested.
The official results returned Mr Lukashenko to power with 80% of the vote and were widely seen as rigged, including by the EU.
About 200 disabled people rallied in the capital Minsk on Thursday.
In its sanctions listing, the EU said that Mr Lukashenko “is responsible for the violent repression by the State apparatus carried out before and after the 2020 presidential election, in particular with the dismissal of key opposition candidates, arbitrary arrests and ill-treatment of peaceful demonstrators as well as intimidation and violence against journalists”.
