Renew Europe reiterated its call on the EU to impose stronger sanctions on Alexander Lukashenko’s regime in Belarus, as the repression against political protesters continue to escalate. 

More than 1,400 people have been imprisoned on political grounds, including Maryia Kalesnikava, a leader of mass protests that came close to toppling Lukashenko in 2020. 

One of the recipients of the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize, Kalesnikava has spent the last year and a half in solitary confinement with no communication with the outside world. She has experienced serious health issues without receiving medical treatment and currently weighs 45kg. 

The EU should enforce bans on goods involving political prisoners’ forced labour as well as stricter financial sanctions on Belarus and on those individuals responsible for serious human rights violations. 

“Maryia Kalesnikava is a symbol of persecution and an example of inhuman treatment that represents the crimes against humanity committed by the Lukashenka regime,” said Petras Auštrevičius MEP (Liberalų sąjūdis, LT). 

“We stand in solidarity with Maryia and all political prisoners in Belarus. We wish them strength and call for their immediate release.”