LONDON, July 7: Britain imposed sanctions on 25 Russians, including the top state investigator, and 20 Saudis on Monday, as part of post-Brexit measures foreign minister Dominic Raab said were aimed at stopping the laundering of "blood money in this country".
After leaving the European Union in January, Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants to forge a new independent role for Britain in foreign and trade affairs, and this was the first time London could impose asset freezes and visa bans independently.
Alexander Bastrykin, the country's top investigator, whose Investigative Committee reports directly to President Vladimir Putin. He has also been blacklisted by the United States and Canada over the death of Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer arrested in 2008 after alleging that Russian officials were involved in large-scale tax fraud. Magnitsky died in a Moscow prison in 2009 after complaining of mistreatment.
Saud al-Qahtani, a former high-profile Saudi
royal adviser, and Ahmed al-Asiri, a former deputy intelligence chief, both of whom had charges against them dropped in connection with the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Khashoggi was last seen at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, 2018, where he had gone to obtain documents for his impending wedding. His body was reportedly dismembered and removed from the building, and his remains have not been found. A Turkish court put 20 Saudi officials on trial in absentia on Friday. The names on the British sanctions list are mostly the same.
Britain has imposed sanctions on two Myanmar military leaders for what it says were human rights abuses against the Rohingya people and other ethnic minorities: Min Aung Hlaing, the commander-in-chief of the Burmese military and his deputy, Soe Win.
A 2017 military crackdown in Myanmar drove more than 730,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh. United Nations investigators have said Myanmar's operation included mass killings, gang rapes and widespread arson and was executed with "genocidal intent."
Moscow will apply counter-sanctions against Britain, the Kremlin said Tuesday. "We can only regret such unfriendly steps," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. "Of course, the principle of reciprocity and some kind of retaliatory response will apply to the extent that it suits the interests of the Russian Federation."
Russian officials to be targeted by the sanctions include Alexander Bastrykin, the head of the powerful Investigative Committee that reports directly to President Vladimir Putin. The Russian Embassy in London on Monday denounced the sanctions saying that the country's legal system was "independent" of the authorities and "guided by law alone".
Investors from Russia, China and the Middle East have poured billions into London, buying everything from luxury properties to entire companies, but the source of some of the wealth has been questioned by transparency campaigners.
The biggest Russian name on the list is Alexander Bastrykin, whose Investigative Committee reports directly to President Vladimir Putin.
He has also been blacklisted by the United States and Canada over the death of Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer arrested in 2008 after alleging that Russian officials were involved in large-scale tax fraud. Magnitsky died in a Moscow prison in 2009 after complaining of mistreatment.
"It is particularly outrageous that the senior representatives of the General Prosecution and the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation as well as judges were included in the sanctions list," RIA news agency cited a Russian embassy spokesman in London as saying.
Raab also announced sanctions on 20 Saudis who Britain says were involved in the death of Khashoggi, following other western countries who have put sanctions on officials there.
Saud al-Qahtani, a former Saudi royal adviser, and Ahmed al-Asiri, a former deputy intelligence chief, both had charges against them dropped by a Saudi court. Eleven suspects were put on trial in December over the killing, with five sentenced to death.
Bill Browder, a client of Magnitsky who has led a campaign to expose corruption and punish Russian officials whom he blames for the lawyer's death, welcomed the move as "a huge milestone in our campaign for justice for Sergei Magnitsky".
"The door's now been opened ... This is the beginning of a new trend in rights advocacy," he told Reuters. -REUTERS
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