Washington, Dec 21 (IANS): The US Treasury on Wednesday imposed new sanctions on more Russians under a law enacted five years ago following the death of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.

The Treasury added five individuals, including Russia's Chechnyan leader Ramzan Kadyrov, to its sanctions list, Xinhua news agency reported.

The sanctions would freeze assets of blacklisted persons under US jurisdiction and ban any US individuals or companies from making business deals with them.

The penalty came as the US State Department presented to Congress its annual report on the administration's implementation of the so-called Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act.

So far, a total of 49 individuals have been designated by the US government under the act.

Washington described Magnitsky as a man who uncovered large-scale corruptions among Russian officials. Magnitsky was arrested in November 2008 for alleged tax fraud and died in prison a year later.

The US claimed Magnitsky died because of medical neglect. But Russia said no evidence pointed to his death being caused deliberately.