The European Union (EU) reached an agreement, on Monday (18), to impose sanctions to people and organizations responsible for death of Russian opponent Alexei Navalny. According to the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, around 30 individuals and entities will be sanctioned, in a decree that will be published in the Official Gazette.
+ Find out who Alexei Navalny was, Putin’s opponent killed in Siberia
The ministers’ decision came one day after Russian President Vladimir Putin won the country’s elections, gaining another six years in power. The politician’s re-election was rejected by the EU, which claimed that the election took place in a repressive manner, because all of Putin’s real opponents were killed, exiled or prevented from running.
“The elections took place in a shrinking political space, which resulted in an alarming increase in civil and political rights violations, and prevented many candidates from running, including all those who oppose Russia’s illegal war of aggression. All this deprived Russian voters of a real choice,” said the European bloc.
In particular, the EU cited Navalny’s “shocking” death, on the eve of the elections, which demonstrated “another sign of the Russian government’s accelerated and systematic repression”.
Navalny, until then Putin’s main opponent, was found dead in a Siberian prison on February 16, where he was serving a 19-year prison sentence on charges of extremism and other crimes. The politician’s body was handed over to his family just two weeks later, after undergoing forensic examinations.
+ Putin speaks for the first time about Navalny’s death: “it’s life”
Although the report points to “death from natural causes”, international leaders, as well as Navalny’s family, blame the Kremlin for the death. According to allies, the politician was about to be released in a international prisoner exchange.
