The European Union has imposed sanctions against six Russians involved in human rights violations in occupied Crimea. This was reported in a document published in the official journal of the EU.

The sanctions included Deputy Prosecutor of the Simferopol District Court Elena Podolnaya, who took part in the criminal proceedings in the case of freelance journalist for Radio Liberty (project “Crimea. Realities”) Vladislav Esipenko.

In February last year, Esipenko was accused of illegally acquiring, storing and transporting an explosive device (Part 1 of Article 222.1 of the Criminal Code). The “state prosecutor” requested 11 years in prison for him, but the court imposed a sentence of 6 years. The defendant himself did not admit guilt, claiming that the grenade was planted on him. Human rights activists condemned the politically motivated imprisonment of Vladislav Esipenko in connection with his civic position and journalistic work.

Among others, the EU sanctions list also includes judge of the Simferopol District Court Dlaver Berberov, who sentenced Esipenko, FSB investigator Vitaly Vlasov, who, in addition to this case, investigated a number of other high-profile politically motivated cases, and FSB officer Denis Korovin, who subjected the journalist to torture. Separate sanctions were imposed on the Simferopol District Court itself.

The court staff involved in the trials against Nariman Jelal, representatives of the Crimean Tatar community and Jehovah's Witnesses were also “awarded” European sanctions.