Poland imposed sanctions against 365 citizens of Belarus

Among those subject to sanctionsPoland 365 Belarusian citizens 159 parliamentarians, media representatives, officers, etc. The list also includes persons"associated with Russian capital"Meeting of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of BelarusMeeting of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of BelarusMeeting of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of BelarusMeeting of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of BelarusMeeting of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of BelarusMeeting of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of BelarusMeeting of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of BelarusMeeting of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of BelarusMeeting of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of BelarusMeeting of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of BelarusMeeting of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of Belarus

Warsaw imposes sanctions against 365 citizens of Belarus due to the support by the Belarusian Supreme COURT of the “draconian” sentence of imprisonment of the Polish journalist Andrzej Poczobut and “repressions by the Belarusian authorities against political opponents” ALEXANDER LUKASHENKO, the Polish Ministry of Internal Affairs reports.

The list also included 20 “business entities” and 16 individuals “connected with Russian capital” (15 Russians and one Belarusian). The stay of persons included in the list is undesirable on the territory of Poland. They will be banned from entering the Schengen zone, their funds will be frozen, the Polish Ministry of Internal Affairs notes.

159 Belarusian parliamentarians fell under the sanctions. As the Polish Ministry of Internal Affairs notes, the restrictions now apply to all members of the Belarusian parliament. The list also includes 76 judges, seven prosecutors, 32 representatives of local administrations and 28 officers and employees of law enforcement agencies.

The list also includes 23 representatives of the Belarusian “regime media engaged in propaganda activities”, 24 athletes and sports figures, eight employees of Belarusian state institutions and enterprises, and the same number of cultural and scientific figures.

“These people promoted the Belarusian regime, and also participated in legitimizing and supporting the repressive policy of the authorities in MINSK. They are also responsible for the politically motivated sentence against Andrzej Poczobut on false charges,” the Polish Interior Ministry said in a statement.

Andrzej Poczobut is a journalist for the international public television channel of the Republic of Poland Polonia and an activist of the Union of Poles in Belarus. He has been in custody in a pre-trial detention center since March 25, 2021.

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In February, the Grodno Regional Court found Pochobut guilty of calling for actions aimed at causing harm to the national security of Belarus (Article 361 of the Criminal Code) and inciting hatred (Part 3 of Article 130 of the Criminal Code). He was sentenced to eight years in a penal colony. On May 26, the Supreme Court of Belarus recognized the verdict as legal, and it entered into force.

Polish laws allow Warsaw to ban Belarusian citizens from entering the country, however, in order to ban these citizens from entering the entire Schengen area, they need a decision at the EU level , draws attention to Vladimir Starinsky, chairman of the Starinsky and Partners bar association. “There is a normative act – the 2006 Schengen border code. There is a regulation for it. According to this code, in order to prohibit entry, a decision is needed from the EU, and not from one state. If Poland wants to promote this solution, they will need to turn to the EU,” he told RBC.

With the fact that legally Poland cannot prohibit citizens of Belarus from entering the territory of the entire Schengen zone, Yevgeny Korchago, chairman of the Korchago and Partners bar association, agrees. However, the lawyer noted, other countries may ban the entry of specific citizens "as a gesture of solidarity." “You can write anything, and then the Schengen countries will decide whether they will support such a decision by Poland or not. Legally, Poland does not have the right to impose a ban on entry to other Schengen countries without coordinating this with Brussels. That is, further each country will decide [to support Poland in this matter or not]. Italy , for example, can say that it does not take this decision into account, and France, for example, will say: “We will support Poland and also ban entry for these specific citizens.” It depends on how law enforcement works in each specific country,” Korchago explained.