Closure of Rossiya Segodnya Bank Accounts in UK Illegal - Editor-in-Chief

The closure of Rossiya Segodnya's bank accounts in London by Britain’s Barclays Bank is illegal, the editor-in-chief of the news agency said Monday, adding that the media company is not targeted by sanctions.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Earlier in the day, a Barclays representative told RIA Novosti that the accounts of Rossiya Segodnya in London had been closed, without specifying reasons for the move.

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.