 "Alexey Navalny")
Those in charge of the Arctic penal colony where Russian Opposition figure Alexei Navalny was detained and later died will be banned from the UK and see their assets frozen under new sanctions announced by the British government on Wednesday.
The sanctioned individuals include Vadim Konstantinovich Kalinin, who oversaw the brutal prison camp where Navalny was kept in solitary confinement for up to two weeks at a time.
According to the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), Navalny's condition had deteriorated in his three years in prison and he suffered from being denied medical treatment, as well as having to walk in minus 32 degrees Celsius weather while being held in the prison.
“It's clear that the Russian authorities saw Navalny as a threat and they tried repeatedly to silence him,” said UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron.
“FSB operatives poisoned him with Novichok in 2020, they imprisoned him for peaceful political activities, and they sent him to an Arctic penal colony. No-one should doubt the oppressive nature of the Russian system. That's why we're today sanctioning the most senior prison officials responsible for his custody in the penal colony where he spent his final months,” he said.
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“Those responsible for Navalny's brutal treatment should be under no illusion – we will hold them accountable,” he added.
The FCDO said the UK is the first country to impose sanctions in response to the death of Navalny, a political prisoner who dedicated his life to exposing the corruption of the Russian system, calling for free and open politics, and holding the Kremlin to account.
Following Navalny's death last Friday, the FCDO said it summoned a representative of the Russian government to make clear that his death must be investigated fully and transparently, and those in the Russian regime responsible held to account. Following news that Navalny's family is being denied access to his body, the UK is also calling for the Russian authorities to release his body to them immediately.
Cameron is set to attend the G20 Foreign Ministers' meeting in Brazil on Wednesday, where he will use the opportunity to call out Russia's aggression and its global impact directly to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
The UK said it has sanctioned over 1,900 individuals and entities under the Russia sanctions regime, over 1,700 of which were sanctioned since what has been termed as President Vladimir Putin's “full-scale invasion” of Ukraine.
