The Council of the European Union has imposed sanctions on five representatives of the Russian judicial system who played a key role in the persecution of activist Alexey Gorinov, former deputy of Krasnoselsky district of Moscow, sentenced to 3 years in a high security prison on politically motivated charges.
On March 15, 2022, shortly after the invasion of Ukraine by Russian military forces, a plan to conduct social work was discussed at a meeting of the District Council of Deputies. Gorinov objected to this plan, arguing that it was inappropriate in light of ongoing hostilities in neighboring countries. Following this, a criminal investigation was opened against Gorinov for “deliberately spreading false information about the operations of the Armed Forces of Russia.”
While serving his sentence, Alexei Gorinov has been subjected to ill-treatment, including inadequate medical care despite severe health conditions
The following persons have been added to the EU sanctions list:
- Roman Viktorovich Vladimirov, Judge of the 2nd Western District Military Court, Russia (Роман Викторович Владимиров, судья 2-го Западный окружной военный суд);
- Katerina Evgenievna Kirichenko, Judge of Presnensky District Court, Moscow (Кириченко Катерина Евгеньевна, судья Пресненского районного суда г. Москвы);
- Larisa Tikhonovna Martynova, Judge of the Moscow City Court (Мартынова Лариса Тихоновна, судья Московского городского суда);
- Maksim Bronislavovich Sokolovskiy, Chairman of the Khoroshevsky District Cour (Соколовский Максим Брониславович, бывший судья Московского городского суда, с 10 мая 2023 года председатель Хорошевского районного суда);
- Elena Leonidovna Zhuravleva, Judge of the Moscow City Court (Журавлева Елена Леонидовна, судья Московского городского суда).
In addition to the judges, the Council of the European Union imposed sanctions on nine individuals and six entities responsible for Russia’s destabilizing actions abroad, including through the manipulation of foreign information.
Among those sanctioned was the BRICS journalists association (news on its website is regularly updated indicating the continuation of its activities), and the Foundation for Combating Injustice. According to the EU, these organizations were created by Yevgeny Prigozhin (a businessman, founder of a private military company, Wagner. Prigozhin died in a plane crash in 2023), and were involved in numerous operations against France and Ukraine including a campaign accusing French soldiers of kidnapping children from Niger.
The sanctions also include the Center for Geopolitical Expertise founded by Alexander Dugin, the state-owned enterprise Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Network (RTRS) , which operates the country’s terrestrial TV and radio transmission networks, and 841st Separate Electronic Warfare Center of the Baltic Fleet .
