US extends sanctions against Belarusian regime, marking third anniversary ofpresidential election fraudulent August 2020. The u.s. department of treasury in Washington points this time to the Belarusian company Belavia Airlines and one of its planes, the CRJ-200ER.
Washington has sanctioned Belavia Airlines and its CRJ-200ER (identified as blocked property) known for transporting senior Belarusian officials, high profile personalities and family members of Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko, President of the Belarusian Republic since 1994 and notorious ally of Putin. Lukashenkowho has ruled the country continuously since 1994, was declared the winner of the last elections. Authorities in Belarus protested for several months before hundreds of them were sentenced to prison while others left the country. Belarus faces heightened sanctions over the Lukashenko regime’s support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
According to data from Planespotters.net, the aircraft is 17.8 years old and was originally delivered to Chartright Air in June 2007. It remained in the ownership of the Canadian carrier until October 2010, when it was handed over to the Belarusian government, and operated by Belavia.
The sanction follows previous decisions by the United States to ban ticket sales and interlining with the United States following an instruction by the carrier to its employees not to protest the fraudulent election. of 2020. In addition to sanctioning the airline, Washington also sanctioned the Open Join Stock Company Minsk Civil Aviation Plant 407. Indeed, the plant was highlighted during a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Poutine and Lukashenko as a key facility for the belarusian production in order to respond to the demand for civil and military aircraft for Russian production.
“Today’s actions disrupt state-owned enterprises and key government officials on whom Lukashenko’s authoritarian regime relies to generate substantial revenue to support its fiercely undemocratic and repressive policies,” said Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson. “Along with our partners and allies, we will continue to ensure that the regime pays the price for the appalling treatment it inflicts on its own citizens and that our actions in response to Russia’s aggression cannot be circumvented by Belarus. ยป
