02/03/2021 (Agence Europe) – Following the Foreign Affairs Council on 22 February (see EUROPE 12663/1), the Council of the EU sanctioned four senior Russian officials on Tuesday, 2 March: Alexander Bastrykin, head of Russia’s Investigative Committee; Igor Krasnov, the prosecutor general; Viktor Zolotov, head of the National Guard; and Alexander Kalashnikov, head of the Federal Penitentiary Service. The Council of the EU explains that they are being sanctioned for their role in the arbitrary arrest, prosecution, and conviction of Alexei Navalny as well as in the repression of peaceful protests related to his unlawful treatment. These restrictive measures—an EU travel ban and asset freeze—came into force on 2 March of this year. This is the first time that the EU has imposed measures within the framework of the new EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime, established on 7 December 2020. (CG)