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EU negotiates sanctions over death of Alexey Navalny — Spanish foreign minister

Jose Manuel Albares named the alleged "violation of human rights" as the reason

BRUSSELS, March 18. /TASS/. EU Foreign Ministers negotiated sanctions against Russian citizens and institutions over the death of Alexey Navalny, Foreign Minister of Spain Jose Manuel Albares said.

"We have also politically approved the sanctions against people and institutions over the death of the Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny within the restriction measures against Russia," he said, naming the alleged "violation of human rights" as the reason.

Previously, a source in a delegation to the European Council told TASS that EU Foreign Ministers made a political decision to impose sanctions against those whom Brussels holds responsible for Navalny’s detention conditions and death. According to the source, in the upcoming days, the council will formally approve the decision, which will be subsequently published in the Official EU Journal and enter into effect.

According to the EUobserver website, the EU intends to impose sanctions against 35 Russian heads of prisons and judges, allegedly involved in Navalny’s imprisonment. Two penal colonie - IK-3 and IK-6 - will also be included in the blacklist. In particular, the new EU restrictions will cover Deputy Director of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia Valery Boyarinev, Governor of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region Dmitry Artyukhov and a number of other officials and prison employees.