UK refuses mutual legal assistance to Russia in the posthumous prosecution of Sergei Magnitsky
International Criminal Law Bureau
In the land where everything seems possible, the Russian Interior Ministry has reported that the UK has refused Russia’s mutual legal assistance request in the case of the posthumous prosecution of whistleblowing lawyer Sergei Magnitsky who died on 16 November 2009 in Butyrka prison in Moscow and the in-absentia prosecution of his client William Browder, CEO and co-founder of the Hermitage Capital Management investment fund.
Commenting on the refusal by the UK to extradite Mr Browder to Russia, the Russian Interior Ministry stated: “this fact does not pose an obstacle for sending the case to court, because Russian investigators have followed juridical formalities in full.” The position by the Interior Ministry, that “juridical formalities have been followed in full” is curiously also applied to their prosecution of the late Mr Magnitsky, the first ever posthumous prosecution known in history.
While prosecuting dead people might well comply with the Russian law, in practice, certain procedures may prove challenging. The Prosecution may struggle somewhat to find out if the defendant would want to plead guilty or not guilty. Cross examination could prove difficult. Bail conditions should be easier to tackle, though.
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International group urges sanctions on Russians
An international body devoted to security and democracy Sunday chided Russia—one of its 56 members—on its human rights record and urged governments to impose sanctions by banning visas and freezing the assets of Russians connected to the death of a crusading lawyer named Sergei Magnitsky.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), representing the United States at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Cooperation and Security in Europe, which was convened in Monaco, spoke urgently in favor of the resolution approved Sunday, calling Magnitsky’s death an example of pervasive and systemic corruption in Russia.
A similar law, named in memory of Magnitsky, is already making its way through Congress, with the energetic support of Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (D.-Md.), who is vice president of the OSCE parliamentary assembly.
Magnitsky was working for an American law firm in Moscow, advising the Hermitage Capital investment firm on tax issues, when he uncovered a $230 million tax fraud. After he accused tax officials and police investigators of the crime, Magnitsky was arrested and charged instead. He died in 2009 after a year in pre-trial detention, denied medical care and showing signs of having been beaten. “Not one person has been held responsible,” McCain said, calling Magnitsky’s treatment tantamount to torture.
Russia put up a spirited defense Sunday, arguing that an investigation of Magnitsky’s death was very much underway and that the sanctions amounted to conviction by public opinion rather than a court of law. It was overruled by an overwhelming show of hands in favor of the resolution.
Speaker after speaker criticized official impunity, the lack of a convincing investigation and the absence of punishment for Magnitsky’s death. He was 37 when he died.
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Magnitsky-linked criminal at debate
Russian delegates at a debate, calling for action against individuals linked to Sergei Magnitsky’s death, handed their passes to a convicted criminal connected to the crime.
Russian delegates at a cross-border parliamentary debate, calling for action against individuals linked to the death of anti-corruption lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, handed their passes for the event to a convicted criminal connected to the crime.
Dmitry Klyuev, who served a two-year suspended sentence for attempted fraud and has been accused of laundering money for a fraud uncovered by Mr Magnitsky, was pictured at the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s (OSCE) assembly in Monaco over the weekend, wearing a delegation badge. He was accompanied by his lawyer, who also appeared to have been given one of the Russian officials’ access passes.
US Senator and former presidential candidate John McCain accused Mr Klyuev of running a “transnational criminal organisation”.
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Mr. Putin tightens the screws
IN THE DAYS of the Soviet Union, the Communist Party was a Godfather-like presence that demanded a monopoly on power and did not tolerate competition. One job of the secret police, the KGB, was to snuff out any dissent or hints of civil society. But prompted by the revolutionary opening of Mikhail Gorbachev, nongovernmental groups sprang to life in the late 1980s. They were at the forefront of the democratic movement that saw the Soviet Union to its grave, and they have proliferated in Russia ever since, defending human rights, fighting for environmental protection, providing charity, monitoring elections, challenging corruption, and broadly filling in the gap between state and society.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, once an officer in the KGB, grew highly suspicious of nongovernmental organizations after the protests known as the Orange Revolution swept Ukraine in late 2004. The demonstrators were seen by the Kremlin as tools of foreign sponsors seeking regime change. A Russian law imposed cumbersome new requirements on foreign groups in the country in 2006.
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Time running out for Russia trade bill
The Russian parliament is expected to vote to join the World Trade Organization (WTP) on Tuesday, giving Congress a short window to either adopt trade legislation or risk seeing U.S. companies trail competitors in the world’s ninth-largest economy.
Establishing normal trade relations with Russia is a no-brainer for U.S. businesses eyeing a vast export market, but lawmakers in the House and Senate are still debating how to do that while retaining leverage over the country on human rights.
Once the Russian parliament ratifies accession to the world trade body, Russia will automatically become a WTO member within 30 days. If the vote happens Tuesday, it means Congress would have to act before the August recess to prevent U.S. companies from losing out.
“The [Obama] administration has consistently urged Congress to terminate application of the Jackson-Vanik amendment and authorize the president to extend permanent normal trade relations to Russia before it becomes a WTO Member,” a spokesperson for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative told The Hill via e-mail.
Doing so would “ensure that American workers and businesses will be able to reap the full benefits of Russia’s WTO membership and to put them on a level playing field with their competitors in Latin America, Europe and Asia,” the spokesperson said.
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Supporting human rights in Russia should be a core strategic interest for US
On Tuesday, July 10, the Russian Duma will vote on ratification of the agreement for Russia’s entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO). Policymakers in both countries view Russia’s entry as a foregone conclusion. The question before Congress therefore is how best to pressure Russia to respect human rights following its repeal of the Jackson-Vanik amendment.
Passed in 1974, Jackson-Vanik tied favorable trade to the freedom to emigrate from the Soviet Union. It provided a foundation for Cold War human rights advocacy. The Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act, approved unanimously by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on June 26, was meant to fill the void left by lifting Jackson-Vanik.
Named after a Russian anti-corruption lawyer tortured and killed in prison in 2009 after he uncovered a $230 million embezzlement scheme, it would sanction Russia’s worst human rights violators by denying them U.S. visas and freezing their assets in U.S. banks.
However, at the last minute, in order to assuage the Kremlin, the Committee chose not to single out Russia and passed a watered-down version of the bill, applying it to human rights abusers worldwide. Lost is the original purpose of the Act—to show ordinary Russians that the United States wants to see a better Russia—one that does not abuse its citizens and one that can be a strong partner to the United States, an ally with whom we share values.
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Russia: EU action on Magnitsky would ‘poison’ relations
Russia’s EU ambassador has said ties would suffer if member states follow the US in putting sanctions on suspected Russian killers and fraudsters.
“It would poison relations, definitely,” Vladimir Chizhov told EUobserver in an interview.
He added: “Well, I am sure that reason will prevail in the European Union. I have more confidence in the EU than I have in the US Congress.”
The Congress’ international committee in June approved the so-called Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act.
If it becomes law, the US will impose visa bans and asset freezes on 60-or-so Russian officials suspected of conspiracy to murder Sergei Magnitsky – an auditor who exposed tax fraud in the Kremlin and who was found beaten to death in prison in 2009.
Chizhov said that he is “not threatening anybody.”
But he noted that Russia might impose counter-sanctions on US officials if the Magnitsky bill gets through.
“The Russian Duma could launch a piece of legislation called the Guantanamo act or the Abu Ghraib act,” he said, referring to US human rights violations in Cuba and Iraq.
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Moscow Says U.S. Visa Deal, Magnitsky List Separate Issues
Moscow’s ratifying an agreement to ease visa regulations with the United States has nothing to do with the so-called Magnitsky list, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Friday.
Russia has constantly voiced its concerns over a U.S. bill aimed at freezing assets and barring entry to Russian officials implicated in the death of anti-corruption campaigner and whistleblower Sergei Magnitsky. Moscow also threatened with retaliatory measures in case the bill is approved.
“Russia’s possible reaction to the adoption of the Magnitsky bill must be formed in other dimensions,” Ryabkov said adding that the bilateral visa agreement was ratified on Friday by the lower house of the Russian parliament, the State Duma.
Earlier in the year, Kommersant business daily reported that the Russian parliament is delaying the process of the ratification intentionally to use the visa issue as leverage in dealing with other problems in bilateral relations.
Ryabkov said that the agreement meets Russian interests and Moscow views it “as the first step to the long-term goal, which is the transition to visa-free travel between the two countries.”
Moscow and Washington signed the agreement to ease visa requirements between the two countries in November 2011. Under the new rules, businessmen and tourists will get 3-year multi-entry visas, while government officials of both states will be able to receive one-year multi-entry visas.
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From beyond the grave
SINCE Sergei Magnitsky died in prison in Moscow on November 16th, 2009, his case has come to exemplify the abuse of power in Russia (or in the eyes of the Russian authorities, the hypocrisy and grandstanding of the West). Mr Magnitsky worked for a law firm called Firestone Duncan, which represented Bill Browder, a big foreign investor who had fallen foul of the Kremlin. Mr Magnitsky uncovered a scandal involving a $230m tax refund, obtained following the takeover and bankrupting of Mr Browder’s companies. A new video, part of Mr Browder’s unflagging campaign on the issue, contains the latest startling allegations about the background to the alleged fraud (those named have either made no public comment or strenously denied wrongdoing). He showed it on July 5th to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which is meeting in Monaco.
The opposition activist Alexei Navalny is also championing the Magnitsky cause. He wrote in the Times (full article behind paywall) that Britain should copy America, where both houses of Congress are supporting a bill that would deny entry to the 60 officials that Mr Browder says were involved in the persecution of Mr Magnitsky, or the fraud he uncovered.
In Putin’s Russia, where the Government is run more like an organised crime syndicate than a functioning state, no inquiries are made about politically reliable billionaires and how they make their money and run their businesses. Sleaze is the norm. But Britain has the rule of law, not to mention a moral, political and financial obligation to its citizens to block the import of corruption. For instance, its 2010 Bribery Act stipulated that the bribing of foreign officials, even if outside the UK, may be punishable by ten years in jail. Will any Russians bearing billions be investigated under this law?
But the Kremlin is fighting back. Mr Navalny’s email and twitter account have been hacked, exposing what purport to be embarrassing exchanges between him and his backers. His foes are calling for his prosecution. The head of the Federation Council, the upper house of Russia’s parliament, Valentina Matviyenko, called the Magnitsky bill “barbaric”. Russia is also pressing ahead with a posthumous prosecution of Mr Magnitsky for fraud and is also trying to prosecute Mr Browder for tax evasion (which he denies). It has asked the British authorities for assistance, but been turned down. It also wants to ban American officials involved in human rights abuses from visiting Russia, though this sanction may not have quite the same sting.
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To learn more about what happened to Sergei Magnitsky please read below
- Sergei Magnitsky
- Why was Sergei Magnitsky arrested?
- Sergei Magnitsky’s torture and death in prison
- President’s investigation sabotaged and going nowhere
- The corrupt officers attempt to arrest 8 lawyers
- Past crimes committed by the same corrupt officers
- Petitions requesting a real investigation into Magnitsky's death
- Worldwide reaction, calls to punish those responsible for corruption and murder
- Complaints against Lt.Col. Kuznetsov
- Complaints against Major Karpov
- Cover up
- Press about Magnitsky
- Bloggers about Magnitsky
- Corrupt officers:
- Sign petition
- Citizen investigator
- Join Justice for Magnitsky group on Facebook
- Contact us
- Sergei Magnitsky
