President Joe Biden on Monday signed an executive order imposing new sanctions against Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, who has been president of the former Soviet republic since 1994. The Biden administration made the announcement on the date marking the first anniversary of Lukashenko’s reelection, which was widely seen as fraudulent and sparked nationwide protests. Lukashenko responded to the unrest with a harsh crackdown, during which many of his critics and political opponents were arrested or fled the country. “Rather than respect the clear will of the Belarusian people, the Lukashenko regime perpetrated election fraud, followed by a brutal campaign of repression to stifle dissent,” Biden said in a statement. “From detaining thousands of peaceful protesters, to imprisoning more than 500 activists, civil society leaders, and journalists as political prisoners, to forcing the diversion of an international flight in an affront to global norms, the actions of the Lukashenko regime are an …