EU-sancties voor Wit-Rusland na verdwijning van drie oppositie-leiders en een journalist (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European Union yesterday (27 September) placed sanctions on Belarusian officials following the disappearance of three Belarusian opposition leaders and one journalist.

The measures are in response to Minsk's failure to investigate the disappearances, which took place in 1999-2000, of former interior minister Yuri Zakharenko, former prime minister Viktor Gonchar, former head of the electoral commission Anatoly Krasovski and journalist Dimitri Zavadski.

In a statement, the EU said that it was placing EU travel bans on "those high officials who are considered primarily responsible for failing to initiate such an investigation and prosecution of the alleged crimes".

Although these men are not named in the statement they are thought to be Interior Minister Vladimir Naumov, Prosecutor-General Victor Sheyman, Sports Minister Yuri Sivakov, and Special Forces Officer Colonel Pavlichenko.

In a statement by the Dutch presidency, EU members said that the presence of these individuals at EU or other meetings was "inappropriate".

The US has said it will also take measures against those concerned.