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Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt has said that Belarusian leader Aleksander Lukashenko will be put back on an EU visa ban list along with dozens of officials responsible for post-election beatings and arrests.

Mr Bildt said: "We have to follow the logic of our previous policies. The last time, when we no longer had political prisoners, we took positive steps. Now we have many more prisoners and those who took part in the actions which took place and those who collaborated with them will inevitably come back on the list."

Asked specifically if Mr Lukashenko will be among the people to face a new ban, he answered: "I find it highly likely that he was involved in the actions which took place."

The EU imposed visa sanctions on Mr Lukashenko and 40 officials in the wake of a similar but less harsh post-election crackdown in 2006. The bloc suspended the ban for 36 of the names in 2008 following the release of high-level political prisoners in a move which later saw the Belarusian leader visit Italy.

EU embassies in Minsk are currently preparing a new list which will be forwarded to a meeting of the member states’ Political and Security Committee (PSC) in Brussels on Friday. One EU diplomatic source said the draft list already numbers over 100 people.

Belarus on Monday saw the temporary release from detention of opposition presidential candidate Vital Rymashevski. Mr Rymashevski and 26 others who are still being held face charges of organising riots which could see them put in prison for 15 years or more.