The United Kingdom announced today that it, in cooperation with Canada, has imposed new sanctions on Belarus in response to the re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko after what it said were "rigged" elections held on Sunday.
The sanctions target six individuals, including the chairman of the Belarusian Central Election Commission, Igor Karpenko, as well as Andrei Anarenko, head of GUBOPIK, which London says is one of the "main security forces responsible for political persecution in Belarus."
Three Belarusian defense companies that "support Russia's war in Ukraine" are also targeted by sanctions, the British Foreign Office said.
"The world has become accustomed to Lukashenko's cynical mockery of democracy while in reality he brutally suppresses civil society and opposition voices to consolidate his rule," British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said in a statement.
The UK and its partners "will continue to support the Belarusian people and condemn those who deny them their legitimate right to freedom and democracy," the minister added.
Alexander Lukashenko was elected to a new five-year term on Sunday with 87,6 percent of the vote, according to an official exit poll, eliminating the real opposition from the election, which had been expelled from the former Soviet republic that Lukashenko has ruled with a firm hand since 1994.
The European Union and human rights NGOs called the elections rigged, and European foreign policy chief Kaja Kalas said on Saturday that Lukashenko had no legitimacy.
On the other hand, Russian President Vladimir Putin today congratulated Lukashenko and hailed his "political authority."
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