New sanctions against Russia adopted in Brussels
The new listings target members of the judiciary - two judges, one prosecutor and one investigator – involved in politically motivated trials - responsible for sentencing Russian activists Dmitry Skurikhin and Oleg Belousov on politically motivated charges.
The Council established a new framework for restrictive measures against those responsible for serious human rights violations or abuses, repression of civil society and democratic opposition, and undermining democracy and the rule of law in Russia in March 2024, as the EU’s response to the accelerating and systematic repression in Russia. The new framework has been established following the death of Alexei Navalny.
Furthermore, the measures agreed today target the heads of penal colonies and a pre-detention centre, where political prisoners Aleksei Gorinov, Pavel Kushnir, Mikhail Kriger and journalist Maria Ponomarenko, speaking out against Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and criticising Putin’s regime, were held and kept in solitary confinement and inhuman and degrading conditions. (Kushnir was a Russian pianist, writer, and political activist, who became the first political prisoner in modern Russia to die during a hunger strike.)
The list includes two judges from St. Petersburg, a prosecutor and a senior investigator.
They were involved in cases where individuals were given prison sentences for making anti-war statements or posting critical comments about the Russian military online. One businessman was convicted of 'discrediting' the Russian armed forces, while a widower was imprisoned and banned from sharing content online for several years after posting anti-war comments.
The individuals designated today are
subject to anasset freezeand EU citizens and companies areforbidden from making funds available to them. They are also subject to atravel ban, which prevents them from entering or transiting through EU territories.
"The EU remains unwavering in its condemnation of human rights violations and repressions in Russia, and is deeply concerned about the continuing deterioration of the human rights situation in the country, especially in the context of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine," the Council said.
