On Friday 22 March, the EU Council adopted restrictive measures against 33 individuals and two entities connected with the sudden death of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny, in a strict prison colony, under the EU’s human rights sanctions regime.
The new listings include the prison colonies where Alexei Navalny had been held since June 2022, the IK-6 corrective colony and the IK-3 maximum security corrective colony. According to the Council, these colonies are known to exert physical and psychological pressure, full isolation, torture and violence on prisoners.
The head of IK-3, Vadim Kalinin, and various deputy heads of the colony were also sanctioned.
Other people subject to measures include members of the judiciary responsible for the imprisonment of Mr Navalny or who have issued a number of rulings against political opponents, high-level officials in the penitentiary system and in the Ministry of Justice who were either responsible for the execution of prison sentences of Alexei Navalny, and other political opponents, or failed to ensure the protection of human and civil rights and freedoms.
The people and entities concerned are subject to an asset freeze and the provision of funds or economic resources, directly or indirectly, to them or for their benefit, is prohibited. In addition, a ban on travel to the EU applies to the natural persons listed.
In its conclusions published on Friday 22 March, the European Council welcomed the adoption of these measures and called for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners in Russia and an end to the persecution of the political opposition. “The ultimate responsibility for the death of Alexei Navalny lies with the Russian authorities”, reiterated the European leaders, who called for an independent and transparent international investigation into the exact circumstances of his death.
The European Council also condemned Russia’s politically motivated persecution of EU citizens, inviting the Commission and the High Representative to take the necessary steps to prevent the execution by third countries of arrest warrants issued by Russia in such cases.
See the legal act: https://aeur.eu/f/bhf
See the European Council conclusions: https://aeur.eu/f/bhb (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)