U.S. Senators Seek Magnitsky Sanctions
Fourteen U.S. senators have submitted a bipartisan bill that would sanction Russian officials implicated in the death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky in a Moscow jail and others guilty of human rights violations.
“While this bill bears Sergei Magnitsky’s name in honor of his sacrifice, the language addresses the overall issue of the erosion of the rule of law and human rights in Russia,” Senator Benjamin Cardin, a Democrat, said Thursday when he introduced the legislation in Washington, according to a transcript of his remarks.
The U.S. legislation, whose sponsors include Republican John McCain and independent Joseph Lieberman, would impose a visa ban and asset freeze on the 60 officials implicated in the Magnitsky case. They are from the Federal Security Service, the Interior Ministry, the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Federal Tax Service and the Federal Prison Service.
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U.S. senator proposes expansion of “Magnitsky list”
Interfax
U.S. Senator Benjamin Cardin has suggested that the names of the Russian officials who failed to take measures against the officials responsible for the death of auditor Sergei Magnitsky should be added to the so-called Magnitsky list, Hermitage Сapital has reported.
“Today Senator Benjamin Cardin has submitted to the U.S. Senate an expanded draft of the bill on Sergei Magnitsky,” Hermitage Capital said in a report obtained by Interfax on Friday.
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Russia-US stand apart over Magnitsky bill
The US senate is considering a resounding rap on the knuckles to Russia, in a bill that went before Congress on Thursday, lambasting the rule of law in Russia and condemning a raft of officials whom supporters of dead lawyer Sergei Magnitsky accuse of corruption and complicity in his death.
A bipartisan bill sponsored by 15 senators proposes to again freeze the assets and block visas of individuals who Washington sees as committing gross human rights violations against Russian human rights activists.
The Russian foreign ministry said the bill was “regrettable,” RIA Novosti reported.
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Senators propose hitting Russian ‘kleptocrats’ with sanctions after lawyer’s death
A bipartisan group of senators on Thursday introduced legislation that would sanction Russian officials involved in the 2009 death of a Russian lawyer who alleged that the government was involved in a tax fraud scheme.
The bill is a reaction to the death of Sergei Magnitsky, whose case has come to be seen as a symbol of corruption in the Russian legal system. Magnitsky was a Russian lawyer hired by an American law firm and who worked for Hermitage Capital.
Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), the lead sponsor of the bill, said Magnitsky “blew the whistle on the largest known tax fraud in Russian history,” and named Russian officials involved in the plan to defraud Russia of about $230 million. Magnitsky was soon arrested, held in detention for almost a year with no trial, and died after suffering from untreated medical complications.
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Should investors avoid Russia, because of state interference
BBC World Service – Business Daily
Should investors avoid Russia, because of state interference, a flaky legal system, corruption and violence? Lesley Curwen talks to two foreign investors with opposing views. Hedge fund manager Bill Browder alleges his former lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, was tortured and died in a Russian prison. Mr Browder, the CEO of Hermitage Capital Management says anyone contemplating investing in Russia should ‘lay down for a while and wait until the urge passes’ because it is ‘truly dangerous.’
Jochen Wermuth disagrees. He is founder of the “Greater Europe” investment funds which have invested over $1bn there. He argues Russia is changing, the population has had enough of corruption, and says ‘what makes us stay is the great opportunity to participate in the change.’ However he also admits things cannot get much worse. займ онлайн онлайн займы https://zp-pdl.com/emergency-payday-loans.php zp-pdl.com payday loan
Bill Browder welcomes US action over Magnitsky death
A powerful group of US politicians has called for sanctions against Russians allegedly involved in a campaign against financier Bill Browder. Once one of Russia’s largest investors, he claims officials were complicit in a fraud against his firm and the death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.
Now Congressmen, including heavyweights Joe Lieberman and John McCain, propose banning the officials from the US.
Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev has promised a full inquiry into the death.
The US politicians are backing new legislation put before Congress on Friday, The Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2011.
In 2005, Mr Browder, who runs fund manager Hermitage Capital, was banned from Russia as a threat to national security after allegations that his firm evaded tax. But Mr Browder says his company was targeted in a $230m (£140m) fraud, and has mounted a strong campaign to uncover what happened to the money and Mr Magnitsky, Hermitage’s lawyer.
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“Who knows where I will be soon”
The metal cage used for prisoners in courtroom No. 14 at the Tverskoi regional court was empty during a recent hearing, its door wide open. Moscow spring sunshine streamed through windows, their metal bars pushed aside.
There was no need for locks two weeks ago when the court considered the arrest of Ivan Cherkasov, a senior executive at British investment fund Hermitage Capital. Cherkasov lives in London and has no intention of returning to face the charges of tax evasion he says are false. He says his arrest is a counter attack by rogue forces in the Russian security services.
In a bold and surprising move just days before, an independent commission set up by President Dmitry Medvedev said that the charges in the case of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky were fabricated by Interior Ministry officials and that Interior Ministry and FSB security service officers were at least partly responsible for Magnitsky’s death in 2009.
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US Senators seek to sanction human rights violators in Russia
A bipartisan bill freezing assets and blocking visas of individuals who commit gross human-rights violations against Russian rights activists was introduced in the U.S. Senate on Thursday.
The bill is sponsored by 14 senators, including one of its principal initiators, Senator Benjamin Cardin (D-MD), co-chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, an independent U.S. government agency monitoring compliance with the Helsinki Accords.
The Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2011 seeks to combat what has become “a toxic atmosphere of impunity in Russia where despite occasional rhetoric from the Kremlin, the authorities have failed to follow through with meaningful action to stem rampant corruption or bring the perpetrators of numerous and high-profile crimes to justice,” Sen. Cardin said in introducing the bill.
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Medvedev’s press conference: Outtakes
Medvedev held his first big press conference with members of the Russian and foreign press today. You can read my story about it here, focusing on the disappointment of those who thought we’d reach the final episode of Russia’s favorite reality show, Who Will Be The Next President.
But there were some other interesting points I didn’t get to mention there.
Some of the main commentary in the “intellectual” Russian press has focused on the incredibly poor quality of the questions. Medvedev was given two questions about driving – one about paid parking, the other about auto inspections. Russia Today, the Kremlin-owned English-language TV channel, asked if the president thought the West got to know more about Russia under his presidency (translation: “give us a compliment please!”) Another journalist asked Medvedev for advice on building a successful TV channel (the answer: “It must be interesting television.”)
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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
