The United Kingdom Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation issued its quarterly report to Parliament on its operation of the U.K. asset freezing regime, an Oct. 14 notice said. The report contains statistics and information on U.K. sanctions January through March 2020.
The United Kingdom Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation amended one entry under its chemical weapons sanctions and two under its ISIL (Da’esh) and al-Qaida sanctions, Oct. 14 notices said. One amended entry is for Said Said, a “significant figure” in Syria’s chemical weapons programs. The U.K. also amended entries for Jamal Hussein Hassan Zeiniye, leader of the Al-Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant, and Sa'd Bin Sa'd Muhammad Shariyan Al-Ka’Bi under its ISIL (Da’esh) and al-Qaida sanctions.
Switzerland joined the U.S., the United Kingdom, the European Union and others (see 2010050010 and 2009300011) in imposing sanctions against Belarus for the country’s rigged presidential election, the EU Sanctions blog said in a post Oct. 14. Switzerland sanctioned the same 40 officials the EU designated earlier this month. The officials will be subject to asset freezes and travel bans.
The European Union and the United Kingdom sanctioned six Russian Federation officials and one entity for the poisoning of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, they said in Oct. 15 news releases. The sanctions target Andrei Veniaminovich Yarin, Sergei Vladilenovich Kiriyenko, Sergei Ivanovich Menyailo, Aleksandr Vasilievich Bortnikov, Pavel Anatolievich Popov and Aleksei Yurievich Krivoruchko. The sanctions also target Russia’s State Scientific Research Institute for Organic Chemistry and Technology.
The European Union on Oct. 15 sanctioned a Russian businessman for violating the United Nations arms embargo against Libya. The sanctions target Yevgeniy Viktorovich Prigozhin, who has “close links” to the Wagner Group, the EU said, a Russian paramilitary organization sanctioned by the U.S. The EU said Prigozhin supports the group’s activities in Libya, including delivering weapons and sending mercenaries into the country. He also is a funder of the Russian Internet Research Agency, which is trying to influence the U.S. presidential election,
The U.S. extended by one year a national emergency authorizing sanctions for the “situation in and in relation to” Syria, the White House said Oct. 8. The White House specifically pointed to Turkish military actions in northeast Syria that have undermined the “campaign” to defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. The authority would have expired Oct. 14.
The United Kingdom Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation issued its 2019-2020 annual report Oct. 9, including details on sanctions improvements made during the past year, sanctions statistics and licensing items. OFSI said it plans to focus on sanctions in the maritime sector in 2020-2021 and to publish “sector specific guidance with supporting blogs and targeted events” relating to maritime sanctions “later in the year.” OFSI also said it continues to prepare for the end of the Brexit transition period and aims to increase outreach with industry to improve sanctions compliance. The agency called industry engagement a “priority” and stressed that the format for its consolidated list will not change after the transition period.
The United Kingdom Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation on Oct. 9 added one entry to its ISIL (Da’esh) and al-Qaida Organisations sanctions list and corrected 17 entries on its Global Human Rights sanctions list. The U.K. added Jamal Hussein Hassan Zeiniye, leader of the Al-Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant, a terrorist organization, to its ISIL (Da’esh) and al-Qaida sanctions. It also revised identifying information for 17 Saudi, Russian, Myanmar and North Korea related entries. The Saudi individuals were cited for involvement in the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who had been living in exile in the United States, in the Saudi consulate in Turkey.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control designated a Nicaraguan financial institution and two government officials for undermining Nicaragua’s democracy, OFAC said Oct. 9. The sanctions target Cooperativa De Ahorro Y Credito Caja Rural Nacional RL, a bank that is “not subject to traditional regulatory oversight,” and Nicaraguan Attorney General Ana Julia Guido De Romero and Secretary of the Presidency Paul Herbert Oquist Kelley.
France, Germany and the United Kingdom called on the European Union to impose sanctions on those responsible for the poisoning of Alexei Navalny, a Russian political opposition leader. France and Germany said Navalny’s poisoning was an “attack on the elementary principles of democracy” and represented a “shocking new use of a chemical weapon,” according to an unofficial translation of an Oct. 7 joint statement. “France and Germany will send their European partners proposals for additional sanctions, the statement said. The U.K. on Oct. 7 said it “stands side by side” with Germany and France. “We will work together with our international partners to take forward sanctions targeting Russian officials and others who are considered responsible for this crime as well those involved in the development of the Novichok chemical weapon programme,” U.K. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said.