INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The United Kingdom on Wednesdayannounced sanctions against six Russian prison officials in charge of the Arctic penal colony where Kremlin
critic Alexei Navalny died last week.Travel bans and asset freezes were imposed on the head of the remote IK-3 penal colony in the
Yamal-Nenets autonomous district, Colonel Vadim Kalinin, and five of his deputies.Britain is the first country to impose sanctions in
response to Navalny's death on Friday
Russian authorities have not named the cause of the activist's death and have refused to hand over his body to relatives pending a "chemical
examination."The British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office called on Moscow to release Navalny's body to his family
Valery Boyarinev three days after Navalny's death.The timing of that promotion has led Navalny's close aides to accuse Putin of "rewarding"
Russian authorities saw Navalny as a threat and they tried repeatedly to silence him," Cameron said."[Russian authorities] poisoned him with
Novichok in 2020, they imprisoned him for peaceful political activities, and they sent him to an Arctic penal colony
No one should doubt the oppressive nature of the Russian system," he added.AFP contributed reporting.
