Tue 10 November 2020:
Britain has expelled two Belarusian diplomats in response to the removal of two UK envoys from the former Soviet bloc country, the foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, has said.
“The UK will not be cowed by the attempts of [Alexander] Lukashenko’s regime to stop us speaking out about the rigged election the despicable violence against the Belarusian people,” British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab wrote on Twitter.
“Today, we have expelled 2 Belarusian diplomats in response to the unjustified expulsion of diplomats,” Raab’s post read.
Belarus on Monday declared the two British diplomats persona non grata due to their alleged “destructive activity”.
After the expulsion of British diplomats, Raab said the move was “wholly unjustified”.
“Lukashenko can’t hide the oppression of his own people,” the foreign secretary wrote on Twitter, calling for new, “free and fair elections” in Belarus.”
The UK has already responded robustly to the torture and mistreatment of hundreds of peaceful protesters in custody by imposing landmark sanctions on Lukashenko and senior figures in the Belarusian government under the UK’s new human rights sanctions regime.
Lukashenko officially won the election with 80.1% of votes. His main rival Svetlana Tikhanovskaya secured only 10.12% of votes, according to the Central Election Commission.
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