London - Britain imposed sanctions on 25
Russians 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".
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.
Raab has pressed for tough sanctions and set out the first
names in parliament, including Russian nationals Britain says
were involved in the mistreatment and death of lawyer Sergei
Magnitsky and Saudis held to be involved in the death of
journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Russia said it would respond to the new measures. The Saudi
government media office and Foreign Ministry did not immediately
respond to a request for comment.
"If you're a kleptocrat or an organised criminal, you will
not be able to launder your blood money in this country," Raab
told parliament.
"Today this government...sends a very clear message on
behalf of the British people that those with blood on their
hands, the thugs and despots, the henchmen and dictators, will
not be free to waltz into this country to buy up property on the
King's Road, to do their Christmas shopping in Knightsbridge, or
frankly to siphon dirty money through British banks or other
financial institutions."
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.