EU imposes new sanctions over Navalny’s death
Alexei Navalny died in a Russian prison camp in mid-February, and the EU has now imposed new sanctions against Russian justice representatives
Source: dpa/Thomas Banneyer
After the death of Alexei Navalny, the EU foreign ministers imposed sanctions on Russian justice representatives. Meanwhile, Russian President Putin called the death of the opposition figure a “sad event”. He also stated that a prisoner exchange was planned.
DThe EU is imposing sanctions in response to the death of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny in a Russian prison camp. At a meeting in Brussels on Monday, the EU foreign ministers agreed on punitive measures against representatives of the Russian justice system, as several diplomats confirmed to the dpa news agency.
Germany and the other 26 EU states accuse Putin and the Russian authorities of being to blame for the politician’s death. Navalny’s widow Yulia Navalnaya even assumes that her husband was murdered in the camp.
The new EU punitive measures are to be imposed using a sanctions instrument to punish serious human rights violations. Affected people are no longer allowed to enter the EU and no longer do business with EU citizens. In addition, their EU accounts and other assets must be frozen. According to information from EU circles, a double-digit number of representatives of the justice system are said to be affected. According to plans, their names will be published in the coming days. The official sanction decision is still pending.
Plans by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell also envisage renaming the EU sanctions instrument for punishing serious human rights violations after Navalny in the future. This step is intended to be a way to keep Navalny’s memory alive.
“Yes, he died. This is a sad event,” Putin said
President Putin officially confirmed for the first time on Sunday that the now deceased Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny should be replaced. A few days before Navalny’s death, some colleagues told him that there was an idea to swap Navalny for some people who are in prison in Western countries. “I said: ‘I agree,’” said Putin, but gave the condition that the opposition politician leave Russia and not return.
“As for Mr. Navalny. Yes, he died. This is a sad event,” Putin said at a press conference in Moscow after his victory in the presidential election, which was widely criticized as a sham. Putin publicly called his opponent by name for the first time in years. “Unfortunately, what happened happened,” Putin continued about Navalny’s death. “But it happens, there’s nothing you can do about it, that’s life.”
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Source: AP/Alexander Zemlianichenko
Navalny’s long-time confidant Leonid Volkov called Putin’s statement a month after the death of the Kremlin opponent “cynical.” Putin actually killed his opponent so that he wouldn’t have to be replaced. He described Putin as a “blood-sucking bug” who would soon burst.
Kremlin critic Navalny, who was sentenced to a long prison sentence, died in a prison camp in Siberia in mid-February. The circumstances of his death are still unclear to this day. Authorities say Putin’s harshest critic collapsed while touring the icy prison yard. Attempts at resuscitation were unsuccessful. His widow assumes that her husband was murdered in the camp.
Shortly after Navalny’s death, it was reported from his circle of confidants that he should actually have been exchanged for the so-called Tiergarten murderer, who was imprisoned in Germany. Accordingly, Vadim K., who was convicted in Germany in December 2021, should have been extradited to Russia – in return for Navalny and two unnamed Americans.