Stop the Untouchables. Justice for Sergei Magnitsky.

“Justice for Sergei” film awarded by Cinema For Peace with the Award for Justice.

In February 2012, Cinema for Peace Berlin 2012 gave the Award for Justice to “Justice for Sergei”, a documentary film about the murdered Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky. Remarks were made by the German Federal Minister of Justice Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger.

“Justice for Sergei” was made by Dutch documentary makers Hans Hermans and Martin Maat and looks at the life of Sergei Magnitsky and how he died in custody at the hands of Russian government officials who were determined to silence him after he spoke out and testified against government corruption.

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Statement on the Magnitsky Case to the US Congress House Committee on Foreign Affairs by William Browder

Committee on House Foreign Affairs

On 21st March 2012, William Browder, CEO of Hermitage Capital Management, testified before the US Congress House Committee on Foreign Affairs about the Sergei Magnitsky case. Sergei Magnitsky was William Browder’s Russian lawyer who was falsely arrested, tortured and killed in custody for uncovering and exposing Russia’s largest ever tax fraud, committed by Russian government officials. William Browder was speaking at the Foreign Affairs Committee hearing entitled: ‘Russia 2012: Increased Repression, Rampant Corruption, Assisting Rogue Regimes’.

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PETER GABRIEL SUPPORTS RUSSIAN PROTEST MOVEMENT

It takes a lot of courage to stand up and speak truth to power, when those who’ve done exactly that – or investigated wrong-doing or corruption – have been brutally murdered. Names such as Anna Politkovskaya, Stanislav Markelov, Natasha Estermirova, Sergey Magnitsky, even Sasha Litvinenko here in England have all been murdered and had their lives cut short. You are being very courageous but something is changing – when we, outsiders, see your Prime Minister being booed by people who would’ve been expected to support him, when we see you openly protesting in public circling the city it’s really clear that the fear and the threat of violence don’t have the power that they used to, they don’t seem to be working in the same way. You may not win this election, but what you are doing is laying down a very strong, bold foundation for a new Russia and a new type of Russian Federation. We wish you all the luck and continued courage. We salute you.

OSCE Parliamentary Assembly

On 23 February 2012, William Browder, CEO of Hermitage Capital Management, spoke on Sergei Magnitsky case at the OSCE Parliamentary Assem­bly in Vienna. In his testimony, Mr Browder described in detail the torture and murder of Mr Magnitsky in custody and the pressure on his surviving family. He called on all parliaments in OSCE coun­tries to pass visa sanctions and asset freezes on the Russian officials in the Magnitsky case.

“Selectively cancelling visas and freezing assets may not be real justice in a case like this, but if we are successful in creating some real and painful consequences in a situation where, until now, these peo­ple have enjoyed absolute impunity, perhaps the next time a Russian investigator is asked by his boss to torture a false confession out of an innocent prisoner, he may think twice… This is a new weapon in the fight against human rights abuses,” said Mr Browder.

British Prime Minister Calls for Russian Authorities to Show Progress in the Magnitsky Case

British Prime Minister David Cameron has called the Magnitsky case “extremely important” and urged for “more progress” to be made by the Russian authorities. Speaking this week at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, British Prime Minister stated he had personally raised the Magnitsky case with Russian President Medvedev and Russian Prime Minister Putin during his official visit to Moscow last fall. David Cameron encouraged leaders of other European nations ”never to be coy” in raising this and other cases of human rights abuse with the Russian government. Mr Cameron stressed that all members of the Council of Europe have an “obligation to secure human rights and dignity.” Mr Cameron was responding to a question about the Magnitsky case from a Dutch MP Pieter Omtzigt who called for a “proper prosecution” to be conducted in this case.

You can read the full transcript here:
http://assembly.coe.int/Main.asp?link=/Documents/Records/2012/E/1201251530E.htm