The UK government on Wednesday slapped sanctions on six senior officials of the Arctic penal colony where Russian opposition politician Alexey Navalny died.

The sanctioned individuals include Col. Vadim Kalinin, the head of the “Polar Wolf” IK-3 Arctic Penal Colony, and five other people described as his deputies, namely Lt.-Col. Sergey Korzhov; Lt.-Col. Vasily Vydrin; Lt.-Col. Vladimir Pilipchik; Lt.-Col. Aleksandr Golyakov; and Col. Aleksandr Obraztsov.

The six officials are accused of being responsible for “activity that violates the right not to be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and the right to life.”

The UK government said they would be banned from entering the UK, and their assets in the UK would be frozen.

In addition, London called on the Russian authorities to release Navalny’s body to his family immediately and carry out a “full and transparent investigation” into his death.

Last Friday, Russia’s penitentiary service said Mr Navalny had died in prison, adding that the cause of death was being investigated.

In January 2021, Mr Navalny was arrested in Moscow upon arrival from Germany, where he had been receiving medical treatment for alleged poisoning in Russia.

In February of that year, a court revoked his suspended sentence in the 2014 Yves Rocher fraud case for multiple probation violations and sentenced him to two and a half years in prison.

In August 2023, Mr Navalny was sentenced to 19 years in prison on extremism charges.

At the time, 47-year-old Navalny was already serving several sentences for fraud, embezzlement, contempt of court, and probation violation.

He pleaded not guilty to all the charges. 

(Sputnik/NAN)