EU imposes new sanctions in response to Alexei Navalny’s death while imprisoned

On 27 May 2024, the European Union imposed new sanctions related to the case of opposition politician Alexei Navalny and set up a new sanctions regime linked to the internal situation in Russia. Navalny died in a penal colony in Russia on 16 February 2024. The joint message of EU Member States is that Russia is responsible for Navalny’s death.

On 27 May 2024, the European Union decided to set up a new sanctions regime linked to the internal situation in Russia. The regime allows the EU to impose sanctions on Russian individuals and entities deemed to have committed serious human rights violations in Russia. The new sanctions regime will also make it possible to impose sanctions on those deemed to have committed acts of repression against civil society and the democratic opposition in Russia, along with those whose actions seriously threaten democracy and the rule of law in the country.  

The individuals now listed under the sanctions regime are judges and prosecutors in the Russian judicial system who were involved in the case of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, who died in prison. Navalny died in a penal colony in Russia on 16 February 2024. Russia is responsible for Navalny’s death. The EU had already imposed sanctions on a number of actors involved in the case as part of its global sanctions regime targeting individuals and entities responsible for human rights abuses and violations.

Under the new sanctions regime, natural persons may be subject to entry and transit bans within the EU. The funds and economic resources of sanctioned individuals and entities may be frozen, and the provision of funds or economic resources to them either directly or indirectly for their benefit is prohibited. The new sanctions regime also prohibits exports to Russia of technologies and software used for the repression and surveillance of its citizens.

The state of Russian civil society has deteriorated since Russia launched its illegal war of aggression against Ukraine. The number of political prisoners is growing, sentences are getting longer and prisoners are being subjected to ill-treatment. Harsh sentences are being used to silence criticism levelled at President Putin and the war.