The European Union (EU) imposed sanctions this Friday on 33 people and two entities related to the death in an Arctic prison of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
The decision, which had already been agreed in principle by the foreign ministers of the Twenty-seven, has been framed in the global EU sanctions regime on human rights violationsthe Council of the European Union indicated in a statement.
The decision is now effective having been published in the Official Gazette of the Union.
“The slow murder of Alexei Navalny by the Kremlin regime is a stark reminder of its absolute disregard for human life,” the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security, Josep Borrell, indicated in the note.
The restrictive measures adopted today “demonstrate our determination to hold Russian political leaders and authorities accountable for the continued violation of human rights in Russia”he commented.
We know that Putin is not Russia and Russia is not Putin. We will continue to support civil society and independent voices
“At the same time, we know that Putin is not Russia and Russia is not Putin. We will continue to support Russian civil society and independent voices,” concluded the head of community diplomacy.
The penal colonies in which Navalny was held from June 2022 until his death have been included in the blacklist: the IK-6 correctional colony and the IK-3 maximum security correctional colony.
Both prisons are known for exert physical and psychological pressure, total isolation, torture and violence on prisoners, the Council noted.
In both places, he recalled that Navalni suffered abuse, repeated solitary confinement in a punishment cell and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, which “caused a serious deterioration in his health.”
The head of IK-3, Vadim Kalinin, and several subjects of the colony have also been sanctioned.
In addition, the Council decided to include members of the Russian judiciary such as Andrei Suvorov, who last year sentenced Navalny to 19 years in a special regime prison “in inhumane conditions”as well as Kirill Nikiforov, who rejected his demand to appeal his transfer to a punishment cell for twelve days.
Likewise, Evgenia Nikolaeva and Natalia Dudar were sanctioned, who have handed down several sentences against political opponents, including Navalni himself, “thus contributing to political repression in Russia.”
Also included in the other lists are senior officials from the penitentiary system and the Russian Ministry of Justice who were either responsible for the execution of prison sentences for Navalni and other political opponents or they did not guarantee the protection of human and civil rights and freedoms.
The restrictive measures of the EU's global sanctions regime now apply to 104 natural and legal persons and 23 entities from multiple countries
Following today's decision, the restrictive measures of the EU's global human rights sanctions regime now apply to 104 natural and legal persons and 23 entities from multiple countries.
Persons included in the sanctions regime are subject to a freezing of assets and the provision of funds or economic resources is vetoed, directly or indirectly.
Furthermore, it applies a EU travel ban to the natural persons included on the list.
EFE
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