Russia’s Wagner to be declared a terrorist organisation by UK

London: The United Kingdom’s Home Office has reportedly decided to declare Russia’s private military company (PMC) Wagner group as a terrorist organisation.

The new order will make it a criminal offence to be a member or support the group, including arranging meetings to further the organisation's activities, expressing support for its aims, and displaying its flag or logo. Committing a proscription offence could lead to 14 years in prison or a fine of up to 5,00 pounds.

In a statement, Home Secretary Suella Braverman said that Wagner was a violent and destructive military tool of Vladimir Putin's Russia, adding that its work in Ukraine and Africa was a "threat to global security".

"Wagner's continuing destabilising 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," Braverman added.

According to recent reports, a draft order to be laid in Parliament will allow Wagner's assets to be categorised as terrorist property and seized.

The UK's Terrorism Act 2000 gives the Home Secretary the power to proscribe an organisation if they believe it is concerned with terrorism and before the act, it was only possible to proscribe organisations connected to terrorism in Northern Ireland.

Wagner will now join other organisations like Hamas and Boko Haram that the UK has proscribed, reports said.

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 several crimes including killing and torturing Ukrainian citizens.

The UK Foreign Office had earlier imposed sanctions on the group, including freezing the assets of Wagner's late chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, and several top commanders.

Prigozhin, who led a failed mutiny against the Russian military leadership in June, was killed in a plane crash along with other Wagner members on August 23.

With IANS inputs