The US State Department announced on Saturday it was imposing visa restrictions on 28 Cuban officials it believes were involved in the crackdown on peaceful protests in Cuba nearly a year ago, Reuters reported.

The department said in a statement that the restrictions would apply to high-ranking members of the Cuban Communist Party and officials working in the country's government communications and media.

The US State Department accused party officials of pursuing policies that resulted in hundreds of people who participated in the July 11, 2021 protests being subjected to brutal and unfair detentions, sham trials and decades in prison. The demonstrations were the largest anti-government demonstrations on the communist-ruled island in decades.

Washington imposed visa restrictions in line with a Reagan-era policy that withheld non-immigrant entry into the United States of officers and employees of the Cuban government and the Cuban Communist Party, media outlets said.