U.S. Imposes Sanctions On Anti-LGBT Chechen President Freezing Assets, Banning US Entry

Ramzan Kadyrov

Virulently anti-gay Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov has been banned from entering the United States and had financial assets frozen by the U.S. Treasury Department.

From Reuters:

The new sanctions blacklisted Ramzan Kadyrov, the Chechen leader and a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Treasury Department said in a statement.

U.S. authorities accused Kadyrov of overseeing “an administration involved in disappearances and extrajudicial killings.”

The U.S. Treasury Department imposed the sanctions, which freeze the banks accounts of those targeted, under a 2012 law known as the Magnitsky Act.

The Magnitsky Act imposed visa bans and asset freezes on Russian officials linked to the death in prison of Sergei Magnitsky, a 37-year-old Russian auditor and whistleblower. The act also seeks to hold responsible those U.S. authorities allege orchestrated or benefited from the death of Magnitsky.