BELARUS: A call for a visa ban on "hundreds" of top officials in the Belarus regime was issued yesterday by the country's main opposition leader, Alexander Milinkevich, who was visiting the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
He opposed the idea of economic sanctions because they "tend to hit the people on the street rather than the regime". Instead there should be "targeted sanctions" and he argued strongly for entry restrictions on Belarus civil servants seeking to travel to the West.
A visa ban could also be applied against judges who took repressive decisions against the opposition, as well as against rectors of universities who expelled students for taking part in protests. The ban could be extended to "those working in propaganda who are trying to crush free speech".
Mr Milinkevich also called on the EU to provide funds so students who had been expelled could continue their studies in other countries. It would also be "very good" if independent television broadcasts could be beamed into Belarus by satellite, to counteract the regime's "monopoly on information".
Mr Milinkevich strongly rejected President Alexander Lukashenko's claim to have won the recent presidential election. "He's just Citizen Lukashenko as far as we are concerned." Mr Milinkevich added: "He basically lost the elections and that is clear to everyone."
Despite a threat from the head of the KGB state security organisation, between 20,000 and 30,000 demonstrators had come out on the streets at the time of the March 19th vote.
For the regime to disappear, he said that 200,000 or "possibly 500,000" demonstrators would be needed. He added: "This is a process that may take months or even a year."
The next big demonstration was planned for April 26th - "the anniversary of Chernobyl".
Asked about Mr Lukashenko's health, Mr Milinkevich said there had been " various rumours", such as that his opponent had suffered a heart attack. Out-of-date footage was used on television: "We noticed that these were old library pictures," he said.