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WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is sanctioning Russian judge Olesya Mendeleeva (Mendeleeva) for her role in the arbitrary detention of Moscow city councilor and human rights defender, Alexei Gorinov. Mendeleeva is being designated pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13818, which builds upon and implements the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act and targets perpetrators of serious human rights abuse and corruption around the world. This action is also undertaken in the spirit of the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012 (P. L. 112-208). 

“Russia’s manipulation of its legal system silences dissent and suffocates the truth about Russia’s indefensible war against Ukraine,” said Acting Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley T. Smith. “The United States joins civil society and international human rights experts in calling for Gorinov’s immediate and unconditional release and the release of all others whom Russia has arbitrarily detained.” 

ARBITRARY DETENTION OF ALEXEI GORINOV

Russian Judge Olesya Mendeleeva (Mendeleeva) ordered the ongoing arbitrary detention of Alexei Gorinov, a Moscow city councilor, public defender, and human rights activist. In July 2022, Mendeleeva sentenced Gorinov to seven years in prison for voicing opposition to the war against Ukraine. He has suffered physical abuse and denial of medical treatment in detention. 

On March 15, 2022, during a district council meeting, Gorinov proposed that a moment of silence be observed for the victims of Russia’s ongoing military aggression against Ukraine instead of a planned children’s drawing contest while children were dying from the war. According to the indictment against Gorinov, during the meeting of the council of deputies of the Krasnoselsky district of Moscow, Gorinov called the war against Ukraine a “war,” rather than a “special operation,” and talked about the deaths of Ukrainian children. The indictment says that Gorinov called Russia a “fascist state” and claimed that Russia wanted to seize Ukrainian territory. 

Known for handing down long and harsh sentences, Mendeleeva convicted Gorinov for knowingly disseminating false information about the Russian military, becoming the first judge in Russia to find a defendant guilty under for such a charge. While awaiting trial, Gorinov fell ill, and Mendeleeva repeatedly refused to release him from pre-trial custody to seek treatment. During the trial, Mendeleeva refused to consider the defense witnesses’ testimonies and reasoned that Gorinov’s “reformation” would be impossible without imprisonment. 

OFAC is designating Mendeleeva pursuant to E.O. 13818 for being a foreign person who is responsible for or complicit in, or has directly or indirectly engaged in, serious human rights abuse.

SANCTIONS IMPLICATIONS

As a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of the designated person described above that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, individually or in the aggregate, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked. Unless authorized by a general or specific license issued by OFAC, or exempt, OFAC’s regulations generally prohibit all transactions by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of designated or otherwise blocked persons. U.S. persons may face civil or criminal penalties for violations of E.O. 13818. Non-U.S. persons are also prohibited from causing or conspiring to cause U.S. persons to wittingly or unwittingly violate U.S. sanctions. OFAC’s Economic Sanctions Enforcement Guidelines provide more information regarding OFAC’s enforcement of U.S. sanctions, including the factors that OFAC generally considers when determining an appropriate response to an apparent violation.

Financial institutions and other persons that engage in certain transactions or activities with sanctioned entities and individuals may expose themselves to sanctions or be subject to an enforcement action. The prohibitions include the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any designated person, or the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person. 

The power and integrity of OFAC sanctions derive not only from OFAC’s ability to designate and add persons to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) List, but also from its willingness to remove persons from the SDN List consistent with the law. The ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish, but to bring about a positive change in behavior. For information concerning the process for seeking removal from an OFAC list, including the SDN List, please refer to OFAC’s Frequently Asked Question 897 here. For detailed information on the process to submit a request for removal from an OFAC sanctions list, please click here.

GLOBAL MAGNITSKY

Building upon the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, E.O. 13818 was issued on December 20, 2017, in recognition that the prevalence of human rights abuse and corruption that have their source, in whole or in substantial part, outside the United States, had reached such scope and gravity as to threaten the stability of international political and economic systems. Human rights abuse and corruption undermine the values that form an essential foundation of stable, secure, and functioning societies; have devastating impacts on individuals; weaken democratic institutions; degrade the rule of law; perpetuate violent conflicts; facilitate the activities of dangerous persons; and undermine economic markets. The United States seeks to impose tangible and significant consequences on those who commit serious human rights abuse or engage in corruption, as well as to protect the financial system of the United States from abuse by these same persons.

Click here for more information on the individuals and entities designated today.

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