Later, a source in banking circles said that the UK Treasury had placed Rossiya Segodnya News Agency Director General Dmitry Kiselev on the list of persons targeted by financial sanctions, a move that could have triggered the closure of the agency's accounts.
Closure of @Rianru account by @Barclays without explanations an example of censorship against alternative media. pic.twitter.com/Ycyhmxgeue
— Alexander Yakovenko (@Amb_Yakovenko) 13 июля 2015
The closure is "illegal," Simonyan said on her Twitter account.
Арест счетов незаконный. Санкции подразумевают, что Киселев лично не может ездить в Европу и иметь там личные счета. МИА не под санкциями.
— Маргарита Симоньян (@M_Simonyan) 13 июля 2015
"The sanctions imply that Kiselev personally cannot travel to Europe and have personal accounts there. The agency is not under sanctions," she stressed.
Kiselev strongly criticized the British authorities' move, saying it was censorship and a direct interference to alternative journalism.
