The European Parliament,

–  having regard to its previous resolutions on Belarus,

–  having regard to Rules 150(5) and 136(4) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.  whereas the Lukashenka regime has been escalating internal and transnational repression to dismantle the structures representing the democratic forces of Belarus;

B.  whereas UN experts recently confirmed arbitrary arrests and detentions, accompanied by torture or ill treatment and even reported evidence for crimes against humanity; whereas more than 1 200 political prisoners, including Viktoryia Kulsha, Volha Mayorava, Alena Hnauk and Andrzej Poczobut, are still jailed;

C.  whereas the Belarusian Investigative Committee has opened ‘special proceedings’ against hundreds of Belarusians who joined rallies in various European cities or ran in the Coordination Council’s elections; whereas the families of the Belarusian diaspora were threatened with imprisonment and asset confiscation if they participated in Freedom Day protests;

D.  whereas Lukashenka’s regime is exploiting the expiry of many Belarusian passports to force the diaspora to return to Belarus;

E.  whereas the Belarusian regime’s increasing cooperation with Russian security services heightens the risk of coordinated repression, surveillance and hybrid threats in EU territory;

F.  whereas Belarusian state media dominates the information landscape;

1.  Demands that Lukashenka’s regime immediately cease its repression, including the surveillance of exiles and demonstrators, and release and rehabilitate all political prisoners;

2.  Strongly condemns the continued expansion of repression by the Lukashenka regime, which now targets Belarusians abroad with criminal prosecution, asset seizures and other measures designed to silence dissent;

3.  Calls for EU-wide legal support and protection for exiled Belarusians by simplifying procedures for obtaining visas, resident permits and provisional IDs for individuals made stateless by extraterritorial persecution;

4.  Reiterates its non-recognition of Lukashenka and considers the persecution of Belarusian citizens for peaceful democratic activities abroad via Investigative Committee ‘special proceedings’ to be a direct violation of the Member States’ territorial sovereignty; urges, therefore, the countries concerned to disregard Interpol arrest warrants for the extradition of Lukashenka’s political opponents;

5.  Welcomes the sanctions on the President Property Management Directorate and the Central Election Commission, which issued politically motivated judgments; urges the immediate imposition of personal sanctions on all members of the Belarusian Investigative Committee and officials from other state institutions complicit in the transnational persecution and intimidation of Belarusian citizens;

6.  Strongly advocates the swift development and enforcement of a legal mechanism to identify, freeze and confiscate all assets and property outside Belarus owned by Lukashenka and his inner circle, with a view to reallocating them to a fund supporting victims of repression;

7.  Urges the Member States to impose further sanctions equal to those imposed on Russia, particularly on officials responsible for transnational repression;

8.  Urges the EU and its Member States to increase political, financial and technical support for the independent media, human rights defenders, trade unions and civil society initiatives operating within and outside Belarus, including monitoring trials and increasing the visibility of political prisoners;

9.  Calls on the VP/HR to use INTCEN and EDMO to counteract Belarusian intelligence operations and disinformation;

10.  Urges the International Criminal Court to expedite proceedings on crimes against humanity by Lukashenka’s regime and demands that Member States pursue accountability through national proceedings, based on the principle of universal jurisdiction;

11.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the VP/HR, the Council, the representatives of the Belarusian democratic forces and the Belarusian de facto authorities.