EU slaps new sanctions on Belarus

Europe's foreign ministers on Monday slapped fresh sanctions on Belarus, sanctioning three companies and three individuals close to President Alexander Lukashenko, diplomats said. The sanctions come amid growing global concern over the deterioration in human rights and rule of law in the country. The 27-nation bloc has already agreed a travel ban and assets freeze on some 188 people, including Lukashenko's close circle and several judges. Diplomats said the new sanctions, the first to hit the business sector, target Lukashenko's economic advisor Vladimir Peftiev and his three firms -- arms company Beltechexport, telecoms operator Beltelcom and marketing business, Sport-Pari. Poland's foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski said on twitter "We have introduced an embargo on arms trade and a freeze on companies that finance Lukashenko." "He must choose his path: towards democracy or towards The Hague", where the International Criminal Court is based. Belarus came under fire last week both from the United States and the UN Human Rights Council, which condemned a crackdown on the opposition. President Barack Obama extended US sanctions on Belarus over its violent suppression of protests and arrest of opposition figures in the wake of December's disputed elections. Obama said Belarus was taking steps backward in the development of democratic governance and respect for human rights. The regime stands accused of violence against protesters, jailing opposition leaders and gagging independent media and civil society. Both the EU and United States last month condemned the sentencing of two former opposition presidential candidates in Belarus. They were convicted for their role in organizing a rally by tens of thousands of people in December following an election that handed Lukashenko a landslide victory and was condemned as unfair by European observers. Lukashenko, in charge of the ex-Soviet state since 1994, has launched a series of crackdowns against the opposition over the years.