Canada announces fresh sanctions against Russia over Navalny’s death

MOSCOW: Canada announced a fresh round of sanctions against Russia on Sunday over the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

The latest sanctions will target six Russian officials, including senior officials and high-ranking employees of Russia’s prosecution, judicial and correctional services, Canada’s Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said in a statement.

Thousands of people attended a farewell ceremony for Navalny on Friday, with some chanting his name and saying they would not forgive the Russian authorities for his death.

By Saturday, the grave in a Moscow cemetery not for from where he once lived was covered with flowers left by thousands of mourners.

“He was the one who had opened my eyes to the existing political situation in Russia,” one mourner, who did not give her name, said of Navalny, who rose to prominence with blogs exposing what he said was vast corruption in the Russian elite.

“I followed all of his investigations closely. I showed them to my friends who were not very interested (in politics). I tried to show them to my parents, but that was more difficult. I love truth, I love honesty, and I’m very happy when truth wins.”

The Kremlin dismissed Navalny’s accusations of corruption and his accusations that Putin had vast personal wealth. Navalny’s movement is outlawed and most of his senior allies have fled Russia and now live in Europe.