Britain imposes Magnitsky-style sanctions on Russians, Saudis

Britain's Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab arrives at Downing Street in London. Picture: Hannah McKay/Reuters

Britain's Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab arrives at Downing Street in London. Picture: Hannah McKay/Reuters

Published Jul 6, 2020

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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. 

Reuters

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