Wagner to Be Declared a Terrorist Organization by UK

Washington Sept 6-Wagner, the Russian mercenary group, is set to be proscribed as a terrorist group by the UK government.

This means it will be illegal to be a member or offer any support to the organization.

A draft order to be laid in Parliament in the UK will allow Wagner’s assets to be categorized as terrorist property and seized.

Ms Suella Braverman, the UK Home Secretary said Wagner was “violent and destructive… a military tool of Vladimir Putin’s Russia”.

She said its work in Ukraine and Africa was a “threat to global security”.

Ms Braverman added: “Wagner’s continuing destabilizing activities only continue to serve the Kremlin’s political goals.”

“They are terrorists, plain and simple – and this proscription order makes that clear in UK law.”

Wagner had played a key role in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as well as operating in Syria and countries in Africa including Libya and Mali.

Its fighters have been accused of a number crimes including killing and torturing Ukrainian citizens.

In 2020, the US said Wagner soldiers had planted landmines around the Libyan capital, Tripoli.

And in July, the UK said the group had carried out “executions and torture in Mali and the Central African Republic”.

The group’s future was thrown into uncertainty earlier this year when its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin led a failed mutiny against Russia’s military leaders.

Prigozhin, who founded the group in 2014, died in a suspicious plane crash along with other Wagner figures on August 23, and was buried in St Petersburg.

The group’s name will now be added alongside that of other proscribed organizations in the UK such as Hamas and Boko Haram.

The Terrorism Act 2000 gives the home secretary the power to proscribe an organization if they believe it is concerned in terrorism.

Before the act, it was only possible to proscribe organizations connected to terrorism in Northern Ireland.

The proscription order will make it a criminal offence to support the group – including by arranging a meetings aimed at furthering the organization’s activities, expressing support for its aims or displaying its flag or logo.

Committing a proscription offence could lead to 14 years in prison or a fine of up to £5,000.