Tikhanovskaya Urges US Congress To Pass Bill On Sanctions Against Belarusian Authorities

Tikhanovskaya Urges US Congress to Pass Bill on Sanctions Against Belarusian Authorities

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the Belarusian opposition leader in exile and an ex-presidential candidate, has called on the United States Congress to promptly pass the Belarus Democracy, Human Rights, and Sovereignty Act of 2020 that envisions sanctions against Minsk

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th December, 2020) Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the Belarusian opposition leader in exile and an ex-presidential candidate, has called on the United States Congress to promptly pass the Belarus Democracy, Human Rights, and Sovereignty Act of 2020 that envisions sanctions against Minsk.

In mid-November, the US House of Representatives approved the bill that expands a US president's authority to impose visa-blocking sanctions against Belarusian officials, members of the country's Central Electoral Commission, representatives of the Union State of Russia and Belarus, and any Russian individual for participating "in the crackdown on the press or human rights abuses related to political repression in Belarus."

In addition, the bill expands authorized US assistance to Belarus to "counter internet censorship," support women advocating for human rights and political refugees fleeing the country. The bill now requires approval from the Senate and a president before it can become a law.

"We need more help from the United States, even in this complex transitional period.

I appeal to the U.S. Congress to swiftly pass the Belarus Democracy, Human Rights, and Sovereignty Act of 2020. This bill will expand the scope of those who can be sanctioned under U.S. law for their complicity in the repressions," Tikhanovskaya said in a statement, published by The Washington Post on Friday.

Tikhanovskaya also thanked the US and the European Union for moral and technical support to the Belarusian opposition.

Protests in Belarus, triggered by incumbent Alexander Lukashenko's victory in a presidential election, which the opposition considers to have been rigged, have been ongoing since mid-August. The opposition and its supporters believe that Tikhanovskaya was the true winner. The Western countries have refused to recognize Lukashenko as president and imposed targeted sanctions against Belarusian officials, citing alleged election fraud and violence against protesters.

The Belarusian authorities have repeatedly said that anti-government demonstrations in the republic were being coordinated from abroad.