EXCLUSIVE-U.S. mulls sanctions on seven Belarusians for falsifying election, violence against protesters

The United States is considering imposing sanctions on seven Belarusian individuals it believes were involved in falsifying the Aug. 9 election and in violence against peaceful protesters, a senior U.S. State Department official said on Tuesday.

"We've got a group of seven people that we are working with Treasury for the evidentiary package" to impose sanctions, the senior U.S. State Department told Reuters in an interview. "It is a minimal effort to ... not just name and shame but to show that when people both steal elections and commit violence against peaceful protesters exercising fundamental freedoms of assembly and speech that there needs to be some accountability." (Reporting By Arshad Mohammed and Jonathan Landay Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)