Member of the European Parliament Vitold Vaschikovsky called “senseless punishment” proposed by the Council of the European Union personal sanctions against Russia in the case of Alexei Navalny, founder of the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK, included by the Ministry of Justice in the register of organizations performing the functions of a foreign agent). His words are quoted by the Euronews TV channel.
According to a MEP from Poland, the proposed restrictions are “not even symbolic sanctions.” “Only a few people will not be allowed into the European Union. Most of these people would never be allowed to go to the EU, because they are either party members or members of the special services. So this is a very senseless punishment for Russia,” Vaschikovsky emphasized.
On Monday, February 22, it became known that the Council of the European Union decided to impose sanctions against persons associated with the conviction of Navalny. Then the head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, called Russia “a neighbor, who, however, behaves like a political enemy.” He later said that Brussels would prepare new anti-Russian sanctions within a week.
On February 2, the Simonovsky Court of Moscow replaced Navalny’s suspended sentence with a real one for violating the conditions for observing the probationary period in the Yves Rocher case. The UFSIN asked to appoint him a sentence of imprisonment in a colony for a period of 3.5 years. Navalny was charged with 60 violations of public order after a suspended sentence. He will stay in the colony for 2 years and 8 months, taking into account the year spent under house arrest during the preliminary investigation in the Yves Rocher case.
In December 2014, Navalny was sentenced to 3 years 6 months of suspended imprisonment with a fine of 500 thousand rubles on charges of committing fraudulent acts and money laundering (in the Yves Rocher case). His brother Oleg received the same sentence, but real.