Nemtsov backs Canadian call for Russia visa blacklist

Agence France Presse

Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov during a visit to Canada’s parliament on Wednesday backed calls for a Canadian blacklist of 60 Russian officials linked to the death of a young lawyer.

Sergei Magnitsky died of untreated heart condition and pancreatitis in an isolation cell in November 2009.

The 37-year-old lawyer’s death after 11 months in a Moscow jail sparked global outrage and came to symbolize problems in the Russian judicial system.

In September, his mother Natalia Magnitskaya alleged that the death of her son was not caused by negligence but was a premeditated murder brought on by months of torture to keep him silent.

The blacklist proposed by Canadian Liberal MP Irwin Cotler “won’t be against Russia, but against the corrupt system in Russia,” declared Nemtsov. “I believe Canada is friendly with Russia as a country.”

Cotler — Canada’s former justice minister — introduced legislation in October calling for those individuals believed to be responsible for Magnitsky’s death to be barred from Canada.

On Wednesday, he said he asked Canada’s Conservative government for its support to turn it into law quicker.

Nemtsov, meanwhile, urged European nations to introduce similar measures.

Before his arrest, Magnitsky claimed to have uncovered a scheme used by police officials to reclaim about $230 million in taxes paid by his employer Hermitage Capital. He was charged with fraud and spent nearly a year in Moscow prisons.

The United States and other Western countries expressed alarm over the tragedy and Washington imposed a visa blacklist against Russian officials whom it believes were involved.

On Tuesday, Russian investigators announced that Magnitsky may be posthumously tried for tax evasion.

His former employer, investment firm Hermitage Capital, decried the continued “repression” of the lawyer and accused authorities of “running roughshod over all legal precedent, practice and morality.”

William Browder, the company’s former chief, will also be tried in absentia for tax evasion, the firm said in a statement.

For foreign investors, Magnitsky’s case has become a source of concern over the fairness of Russia’s judicial system.

Several doctors in the Moscow prison where he was held have been charged with negligence over his death, but Hermitage argues that more senior officials, including Russian federal ministers, are responsible. займ на карту срочно без отказа hairy woman https://www.zp-pdl.com https://zp-pdl.com/best-payday-loans.php займы без отказа