LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th July, 2020) The Russian Embassy in the United Kingdom on Monday voiced severe criticism of the United Kingdom's move to include Russian Investigative Committee chief Alexander Bastrykin and 24 other law enforcement officials in its list of foreign nationals sanctioned over violation of human rights, calling it a politically motivated decision and stating Moscow's right to respond reciprocally.
Earlier in the day, the UK Foreign Office released a new list of individuals and organizations to be sanctioned over alleged human rights violations. The list includes 25 Russian nationals, 20 Saudi nationals, two Myanmar military generals and two North Korean special services. All those listed will be banned from entering the UK and will have their-UK-based assets, if any, frozen.
"We are particularly appalled by the designation of top officials of the Prosecutor General's office and the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, as well as judges. In Russia, investigation, prosecution and the judiciary operate on the basis of independence from the executive and are guided exclusively by law. In their everyday work, it is unacceptable for them to have to bear in mind the prospect of foreign sanctions imposed for political reasons," the embassy said in a statement.
The embassy described London's move as being "quite obviously conceived merely as a public move."
"Russia reserves the right to respond to today's unfriendly decision by the UK on the basis of reciprocity," the statement read.
