On Wednesday, UK Foreign Minister David Cameron said that six officials leading the Siberian jail colony where Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny died had been sanctioned by London.
“Those responsible for Navalny’s brutal treatment should be under no illusion — we will hold them accountable,” Cameron said.
Travel bans and asset freezes pertaining to UK assets will apply to the sanctioned people.
Among them are Vadim Konstantinovich Kalinin and five of his subordinates, who were in charge of the IK-3 Arctic Penal Colony “Polar Wolf”.
The UK, the first country to impose penalties in connection with Navalny’s death on Friday, demanded that his remains be returned to his family right away.
“It’s clear that the Russian authorities saw Navalny as a threat and they tried repeatedly to silence him,” Cameron said.
Russian authorities “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,” he added.
“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.”
