Support Magnitsky Act

Democratic Russia Committee

Why this is Important

This act directly imposes sanctions on persons responsible for the detention, abuse, and death in prison of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who discovered a falsified $ 230 millions tax refund paid against the law to criminals.

The U.S. State Department imposed sanctions without waiting for the debate in Congress to the bill to ban people involved into “Sergey’s Magnitsky list” to enter the U.S. and the arrest of their accounts in U.S. banks. This action, however, might stop Congress to pass this bill or will not allow providing more stringent sanctions against a larger number of Russian officials. The administration sees no need to take this additional law.

I am primarily concerned about the fact that Russian government changed the course of Russia, turning it into a country that resembles a criminal state, where corruption is rampant, the rule of law is nonexistent, and those attempting to bring justice, speak out, defend freedom or human rights have been murdered, beaten, sentenced to jail, or coerced into silence through intimidation and terror. Therefore, the purpose of that Act will not be limited to bringing justice in the Sergey Magnitsky case; it’ will send a strong message to corrupted Russian officials and will create a chance to save other people lives, whom are slammed by the same degraded system.

Also, I would like to remind you that Sergei’s Magnitsky death would be hidden and unknown to general public, if there wasn’t the powerful protest outside of Russia. Unfortunately, the government-orchestrated corruption scheme is invincible in Russia: businessmen Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev remain jailed even after human rights watchdog Amnesty International declared them “prisoners of conscience”; the investigative journalist from Russian newspaper ”Novaya Gazeta” Anna Politkovskaya was murdered the same day she planned to file a story on the torture practices in Chechnya; reporter from Chechnya Natalia Estemirova was kidnapped from her home and killed in broad daylight, allegedly for her human rights work; Sergey Mokhnatkin, supervisor of a Moscow online company, was sent to jail for protecting a peaceful meeting participant , who was a 72 year old woman, from police violence. These individuals are representative of the thousands of other Russians who are victims of their government’s authoritarianism and don’t have any chance for fair justice in their own country.

It’s imperative to understand that foreigners in Russia do not have any immunity either. U.S. citizen Paul Khlebnikov, the HYPERLINK ” Russian edition was assassinated in Moscow, because he investigated corruption and sought to shed light on Russian business. The ex-head of FargOil, Valdes-Garcia, a Spanish citizen, was beaten and tortured by Russian investigators to force him to provide false testimony against HYPERLINK ” CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky, he was discovered to be in a hospital recovering from head and leg injuries sustained after jumping out of a window in a failed escape attempt.

Senator Cardin’s bill represents a bipartisan, carefully targeted approach to holding those engaging in this egregious behavior in Russia accountable for their actions. It also mandates the identification of those involved in, as the legislation states, the “extrajudicial killings, torture, or other gross violations of human rights committed against individuals seeking to expose illegal activity carried out by officials of the Government of the Russian Federation; or to obtain, exercise, defend, or promote internationally recognized human rights and freedoms, such as the freedoms of religion, expression, association, and assembly and the rights to a fair trial and democratic elections.” Those who are identified by The Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2011 will be denied visas to the U.S., have any assets in U.S. jurisdiction frozen, and prevented from using the U.S. banking system. On behalf of those Russians suffering from corrupted government or fighting for democracy and accountability, I urge you to co-sponsor S. 1039 and ask you to keep me updated on your actions regarding this bill. займ на карту займ онлайн на карту без отказа https://zp-pdl.com/get-quick-online-payday-loan-now.php https://zp-pdl.com/best-payday-loans.php займ на карту