Cold war-style blacklists? Wide ripples from Russian lawyer’s death in prison.
Two Russian generals have reportedly called off a US visit after senators asked for a review of their visa requests. A proposed Senate bill would restrict visas for 60 Russians allegedly linked to the case of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.
Sergei Magnitsky was just one statistic among more than 4,000 people who die each year after being consigned to Russia’s overcrowded and brutality-plagued prison system.
But the story of the dedicated corporate lawyer who died under suspicious circumstances in pretrial custody two years ago, after being arrested by the very police officers he had testified against in a major corruption case, has shocked the world and led to a wave of repercussions that could undo the tenuous “reset” that has thawed US-Russian relations since President Obama took office.
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Russians said to call off U.S. trip after backlash
Two Russian generals have called off plans to travel to Washington, according to the group that invited them, following a backlash over their alleged involvement in the case of a whistleblowing lawyer who died in a Moscow jail.
The lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, died two years ago, but fallout from his death has reverberated in U.S.-Russian relations, with repeated allegations that officials were culpable in his death and later covered up their role. The allegations have fueled calls for accountability from rights groups and U.S. officials.
When word surfaced that two generals tied to the case were headed to Washington next week for a conference on intellectual property rights, a pair of U.S. senators balked, urging the State Department to reconsider allowing their entry to the country.
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Germany considering EU visa ban on Russian officials
The German government is considering the merits of an EU visa ban on Russian officials implicated in the murder of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.
Markus Loning, the German foreign ministry’s commissioner for human rights, told EUobserver on the margins of a conference on Russia in Helsinki on Thursday (10 November): “We’re discussing it. It is an option that my office is bringing to the table, into the debate. I can’t say I have completely convinced the rest of the government, but it is something I am putting on the table again and again.”
One option is to seek agreement by all 27 EU countries to blacklist the officials. Germany could also unilaterally red-flag the names in the passport-free Schengen system, forcing all 25 Schengen members to keep them out.
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US senators seek visa bans for two senior Magnitsky officials
Two senators have urged Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to consider banning entry into the US for two senior Russian police officials who are believed to be complicit in the death of Hermitage Capital lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.
Earlier, the State Department put dozens of Russian officials blamed for Magnitsky’s death on a no-visa list after Russian authorities refused to take action against them.
Generals Tatiana Gerasimova and Nikolai Shelepanov, senior figures in the Russian Interior Ministry’s criminal investigation arm, are planning a visit to Washington to discuss intellectual property rights.
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US Helsinki Commission to hold Briefing on Human Rights Play on Magnitsky Murder
Human Rights Play on Magnitsky Murder
Where: 121 Cannon House Office Building
When: Wednesday, Nov. 16th at 6:00 pm
After exposing the largest tax fraud in Russian history, Magnitsky was wrongly arrested and tortured in prison. Six months later he became seriously ill and was consistently denied medical attention despite 20 formal requests. On the night of November 16, 2009, he went into critical condition, but instead of being treated in a hospital he was put in an isolation cell, chained to a bed, and beaten by eight prison guards for one hour and eighteen minutes. Sergei Magnitsky was 37 years old and left behind a wife and two children. Those responsible for this crime have yet to be punished and his story has become a global human rights cause and is emblematic of corruption, violence, and impunity in Russia.
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U.S Senators Urge Clinton To Reconsider Visit Of Russian Officials Connected To Magnitsky Case
Two U.S. senators have urged Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to reconsider allowing the visit of two Russian officials allegedly involved in the prosecution and prison death of anticorruption lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.
In letter dated November 8 that was obtained by RFE/RL, Senators Benjamin Cardin (Democrat-Maryland) and Roger Wicker (Republican-Mississippi) urged Clinton to “immediately review any visa applications” submitted by Russian Interior Ministry Generals Tatiana Gerasimova and Nikolai Shelepanov.
The officials are due to arrive in Washington early next week to discuss Moscow’s record of enforcing intellectual property rights, which U.S. trade officials have described as a major stumbling block to deeper economic cooperation.
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William Browder on Human Rights in Russia
William Browder: “It’ll have an enormous impact on the human rights situation in Russia, if there are real consequences to the people who violate human rights.”
William Browder is the co-founder and CEO of the investment fund Hermitage Capital Management currently based in London, a former client of the late lawyer Sergei Magnitsky and an initiator of the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act. Interview with Iivi Anna Masso, published in Diplomaatia 96 / August 2011 (also in Estonian).
IAM: You did a great career in Russia as an investor and ended up as a public enemy of the Kremlin. How did your story in Russia begin?
WB: I have a connection with Russia that comes from my family. My grandfather was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the US and he lived in Russia in 1927–1932. My grandmother was Russian and my father was born in Russia.
My teenage rebellion against my Communist family was to become a businessman. I graduated from Stanford Business School in 1989, when the Berlin Wall came down. When trying to figure out what to do with my life, I decided to go to Russia. I thought that with my background, it would be a good idea to do something in the post-Communist world.
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Senators Push to Keep 2 Russian Generals Out of U.S.
U.S. lawmakers are moving to block the planned visit to the U.S. of two Russian generals who they say helped cover up the murder of a Russian whistleblower in prison three years ago.
Their appeal in a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ratchets up pressure on the Obama administration, which is defending a “reset” in relations with Moscow as a major foreign-policy accomplishment. Some in Congress have been calling for a tougher line toward Moscow.
The case of the dead whistleblower, Sergei Magnitsky, has been a source of friction in Russia-U.S. relations, and the Kremlin has bristled at a visa ban that the U.S. implemented on Russian officials linked to Mr. Magnitsky’s imprisonment and death.
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Russian play about judicial corruption comes to the Capitol
The City of Baltimore has recently found itself under the harsh gaze of the Russia Today: in a 500 word piece, shaped by an hour or so of immersion in Baltimore’s one-block red zone, and many hours evidently spent watching “The Wire,” a Russian reporter dutifully described Baltimore as a war zone of economic imbalance. A few days later, Russia Today parroted a Baltimore Sun piece describing Baltimore’s homeless problem.
Now, with a production of One Hour Eighteen Minutes, it looks like Baltimore is ready to return the favor with a ruthless theatrical investigation of Russian judicial corruption.
On November 16, One Hour Eighteen Minutes, directed by Baltimore based Russian director Yury Urnov and supported by the Baltimore-based Center for International Theatre Development, is going to play at the Cannon House Office Building in Washington DC.
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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
