Irish journalist Bryan MacDonald on UK sanctions list over role in Russian media

#Irish #journalist #Bryan #MacDonald has been named in a new package of #UK #sanctions over his role with Russian #media.

As Head of the Russian and Former Soviet Union Desk for #Russia #Today (#RT), he is accused of being “a member of, or associated with, a person involved in destabilising Ukraine or obtaining a benefit from or supporting the Government of Russia" by the UK Office of #Financial #Sanctions #Implementation

Mr MacDonald has been made a designated person by the UK government.

Others on that list include Herman Gref, the chief executive of Russia’s largest lender #Sberbank and former Economy Minister, billionaire oil tycoon Eugene #Shvidler and Polina #Kovaleva, Foreign Minister Sergey #Lavrov’s socialite step-daughter.

UK citizens must now freeze any accounts, funds, or other economic resources, and refrain from dealing with Mr MacDonald.

Failure to comply or attempting to circumvent the sanctions is deemed a criminal offence.

Mr MacDonald said in a statement to the Irish Independent last night: “I just think it’s really sad. And it reflects badly on the British government, which claims to have respect for press freedom.”

He added: “What makes this ruling even more ridiculous is that I ran the (online) desk to the highest professional standards. We did not engage in any disinformation.

"Our output was balanced and rigorously fact checked. Under no metric could it have been considered ‘propaganda’. In fact, this seemed to upset some people as they wanted RT to fit a particular narrative"