of Belarus has sought to stop the work of the Coordination Council, which was formed by the leading opposition presidential candidate, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, to facilitate a peaceful transition of power by subjecting the Council’s senior members to violence, detention, and forced exile. (13) After the August 9, 2020, presidential election, the Government of Belarus restricted the free flow of information to silence the opposition and to conceal the regime’s violent crackdown on peaceful protestors, including by stripping the accreditation of journalists from major foreign news outlets, disrupting internet access, limiting access to social media and other digital communication platforms, and detaining and harassing countless journalists. (14) Before the European Parliament on August 25, 2020, Tsikhanouskaya stressed that a peaceful revolution was underway in Belarus, and that It is neither a pro-Russian nor anti-Russian revolution. It is neither an anti-European Union nor a pro-European Union revolution. It is a democratic revolution. . (15) Against the will of the majority of the Belarusian people, Russian President Vladimir Putin has propped up the Alyaksandr Lukashenka regime, including by offering security assistance, providing significant financial support, and sending Russian propagandists to help disseminate pro-regime propaganda on Belarus state television. (16) After the August 9, 2020, presidential election, the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Canada condemned the violent crackdown on peaceful protestors, refused to accept the results of the fraudulent election and called for new free and fair elections under independent observation. (17) On September 8, 2020, Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo said, The United States, in coordination with our partners and Allies, is considering additional targeted sanctions to promote accountability for those involved in human rights abuses and repression in Belarus. . (18) Following Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s September 23, 2020, secret