Britain announced on Monday that it would impose personal sanctions against 25 Russians who London considers to be involved in human rights violations. This is stated in an official document distributed on the government information website.
Among these persons - the Chairman of the Investigative Committee of Russia Alexander Bastrykin, Deputy Prosecutor General Viktor Grin, the ex-Deputy Interior Minister Alexei Anichin, judges, investigators, employees of the Interior Ministry. Those named in the list are banned from entering the UK, their assets in the country, if any, will be frozen, and they are prohibited from doing business either in the country or through the intermediary of subjects of the Kingdom.
The sanctions came into force after the document was published. They are introduced as part of the entry into force of the "Magnitsky amendment" to the law on sanctions and anti-money laundering, which was adopted by the House of Commons in May 2018 and was supposed to come into force after the UK leaves the EU.
It is named after Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer at Hermitage Capital, who died in November 2009 in the Matrosskaya Tishina detention center in Moscow. According to London, the people mentioned in the list were involved in his death.
"The inclusion of these individuals and organizations in the list is only the first wave of measures introduced under the new sanctions regime. New sanctions will be announced in the coming months, " the Kingdom's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Sanctions may apply to those involved in corruption
Speaking in the House of Commons of the British Parliament, the head of the foreign office Dominic Raab did not rule out that in the future sanctions would be extended to foreign citizens who, according to London, were involved in corruption. "We will continue to try to expand this sanctions regime, and we are already considering the possibility that corruption can be added to the arsenal of available funds," the Foreign Minister said.
The sanctions list submitted on Monday also includes 20 Saudi citizens who London considers guilty of the murder in 2018 of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Consulate in Istanbul, two Myanmar military leaders who, according to the British side, were involved in "systematic crimes" against the Rohingya in Myanmar, two North Korean agencies - the Ministry of People's Security and the Ministry of State Security of the country. London accuses the latter of torture, slave labor, and murder. In total, the document lists 49 people and organizations.
After the USA
As Raab previously pointed out, the amendment corresponded to the US law of the same name. The Magnitsky act was passed by the US Congress and signed by President Barack Obama in December 2012. The document provides for the application of sanctions measures against a number of Russian officials. They include employees of law enforcement agencies involved, according to Washington, in the death of Magnitsky. International financier and founder of the Hermitage Capital Fund, William Browder, is considered the main initiator of the adoption of this law. Subsequently, the "Magnitsky laws" were also adopted in Canada, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, and relevant bills are being considered in several other countries.
Russia regarded the "Magnitsky act" as interference in its internal affairs. The Russian Foreign Ministry called the document unfriendly and provocative.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Based on materials from TASS