The European Council on March 22 sanctioned 33 people and two entities linked to the death of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny. The listings, under the EU's global human rights sanctions regime, include the two penal colonies where Navalny was held from June 2022 until his death last month, along with the head of one of those colonies, Vadim Kalinin, and other "various deputy heads of the colony." Members of the judiciary were also sanctioned, including Andrey Suvorov, who sentenced Navalny to 19 years in prison, and Kirill Nikiforov, who rejected Navalny's suit against the penal colony.
The EU General Court on March 20 annuled the sanctions listing of former Formula One driver Nikita Mazepin, saying the link between Mazepin and his father -- sanctioned Russian oligarch Dmitry Mazepin -- is insufficient for the driver's listing on the Russia sanctions regime.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee voted 28-22 this week to approve a bill that would impose property-blocking sanctions on Chinese Communist Party leaders for committing human rights violations.
The House on March 19 passed a bill that would impose property-blocking sanctions on foreign persons who undermine the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement, which ended the Bosnian War.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 12-9 on March 20 to approve President Joe Biden’s nomination of Erik Woodhouse to be head of the State Department’s Office of Sanctions Coordination. Eleven Democrats and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., supported the nomination, while nine Republicans were opposed. The committee’s ranking member, Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, has threatened to try to block the nomination when it goes to the full Senate, citing Woodhouse's role in the Biden administration's decision not to sanction the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline project while Russia was threatening to invade Ukraine (see 2403070046).
The U.S. sanctioned two Russian companies and their leaders for helping the country’s government carry out a “foreign malign influence campaign,” including by impersonating government organizations and European media outlets.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is adding new export license requirements for people and entities designated under certain Treasury Department sanctions programs, a move it said will strengthen U.S. financial blocking measures and act as a “backstop” for activities that those restrictions don’t cover.
A new report this week from the Congressional Research Service outlines U.S. sanctions risks stemming from the global oil tanker market, including from tankers moving sanctioned oil from Russia, Iran and Venezuela.
A senior State Department official called rising weapons shipments between Russia and North Korea “deeply concerning,” saying the U.S. plans to continue using a combination of sanctions and diplomacy to try to disrupt trade between the two countries.
A lawsuit between the trustee of a Russian businessman and his "long term" partner will go to trial after the U.K. High Court of Justice on March 13 declined to dismiss their defense, setting up a case that could shed light on the role sanctioned parties play in property disputes.