Officers from the Belarusian Committee for State Security (KGB) searched the apartment of an independent trade union member today.
A new list of Belarusians barred from traveling to the European Union includes high-ranking government officials but also judges, electoral officials, journalists, and a top surgeon.
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said that Belarus President Alyaksandr Lukashenka could find himself facing the same kind of popular uprising now sweeping the Arab world.
Some of the Belarusian officials and others who were sanctioned this week by the European Union and the United States say the measures will not hurt them.
The international community is stepping up its support for Belarusian civil society and pro-democracy activists as it toughens sanctions against President Alyaksandr Lukashenka's authoritarian regime.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov today said Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka's crackdown on the opposition following his disputed December reelection was "unacceptable," but called a new series of Western sanctions "politically motivated."
Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka has agreed to release two of his staunchest critics from jail, where they had spent more than a month for participating in mass protests against his disputed re-election, and place them under house arrest. The release, however, has one catch: they must now share their homes with KGB officers.
The European Commission is to quadruple its aid to Belarus in order to support human rights and democracy there.
The OSCE's Representative on Freedom of the Media called today on the Belarusian government to stop harassing independent journalists and media outlets.
One Belarusian opposition leader was detained today and a second summoned for questioning by the KGB.
The European Union and the United States have levied fresh sanctions against the regime of Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka in response to authorities' violent crackdown on antigovernment protesters and other alleged abuses following December's disputed presidential election.
Belarusian authorities have released seven detainees, including a former presidential candidate Uladzimer Nyaklyaeu, who were arrested in December during protests over the reelection of President Alyaksandr Lukashenka.
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