The Russians murdered my husband – and I could be next: Widow of Kremlin whistle-blower Sergei Magnitsky reveals she fled to London in fear of her life
The contents of the food parcel Natasha Magnitsky packed for husband Sergei were achingly spare: tea, sugar, biscuits and bread, a few carrots and turnips to bolster his prison diet, and some caramel as a treat. But when she attempted to hand them in at the little hatch in Moscow’s notorious Butyrka prison, a female official snapped: ‘No, he’s gone.’
Terrified that Butyrka’s squalid conditions – raw sewage running through the cells, a shift system for beds – had made him sick, Sergei’s mother Nataliya dashed to Matrosskaya Tishina, a prison in northern Moscow where there was a medical unit, while Natasha went to work.
At the prison, the official at the parcel desk was rather more specific: Sergei, an accountant who’d blown the whistle on a £150 million corruption scandal that stopped at the door of the Kremlin, was dead.
‘We had been a fortress, we two,’ says Natasha, who has since fled to London with the couple’s 12-year-old son. ‘Our marriage, our family was our life. In that moment my world and my belief system disintegrated around me. The fortress crumbled.
‘The last thing he said to me the night he was arrested was, “Don’t worry, I’ll be home tomorrow.” Right to the end he believed innocence could always be proved, but now I understand that nobody is safe. The unimaginable happened to my husband – why couldn’t it also happen to me?’
Traditionally, people are sent to prison because they’ve committed a crime. Sergei, 37, found himself locked away because he uncovered one. He was the auditor who followed an extraordinary paper trail that led from an illegal Interior Ministry raid on the Moscow offices of a London investment company to law enforcers, judiciary, bankers and mobsters.
He was incarcerated for a year without trial and investigated by those with a vested interest in closing down his inquiries. A week before his family were expecting his release he died, officially of heart failure and toxic shock from untreated pancreatitis, but also from brutal beatings. America led world condemnation of the best-documented abuse of human rights to emerge from Russia in the past 25 years. It led to the Magnitsky Act, allowing the US to withhold visas and freeze the financial assets of the Russian officials involved.
Russia retaliated by posthumously prosecuting Sergei for complicity in the tax fraud he revealed. His corpse was found guilty last month and his name has now joined the growing list of other brave citizens, from the late dissident Alexander Litvinenko to the young mothers of the anti-establishment pop group Pussy Riot, who are Russia’s very modern martyrs.
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Latvia: the Next Cyprus?
Earlier this month, EU finance ministers gave their approval for Latvia to become the eighteenth member of the Euro in January 2014. It seems counterintuitive that the country of two million people would want to enter the perpetually distressed and recession-stricken economic zone. But for Latvia it has a variety of benefits, not the least of which would be to allow its impressive financial sector easy and unfiltered access to the rest of the continent. The hope is that by embracing the euro and committing itself to the necessary structural preconditions for acceptance, that Latvia will see economic growth and avoid events like the massive drop in GDP it experienced after the 2008 global economic crisis.
Latvia joining the euro, taken by itself, would seem at the very least uninteresting to most observers and politicians sitting in Brussels and Washington D.C. But there is a more worrisome aspect that troubles those very same politicians and portends an economic crisis on the scale of Cyprus if it is not carefully addressed. That nefarious aspect is the country being used as an entry point for illicit Russian money seeking to enter the EU.
The concern over Latvia entering the EU is in part due to the striking similarities between the Cyprus and Latvia. Like Cyprus, Latvia has an oversized financial sector compared to its population, which it has made the centerpiece of its economy. Both countries have strikingly low corporate tax rates, with Latvia at 15 percent and Cyprus at 12.5 percent (the Euro average is 23.5 percent). Additionally, a majority of the services in these nations cater to foreign clients, particularly Russian clients—or from former Soviet states in Central Asia—hoping to escape the capricious and unstable legal and economic situations inside of their country. (More often they are simply hoping to move their money from the watchful eye of Rosfinmonitoring—Putin’s personal financial-intelligence-collection unit). But making Latvia even more dependent on Russian money is the fact that nonresidents account for 48.9 percent of deposits, compared to 43 percent in Switzerland (the perennial tax-cheat haven) and 37 percent in Cyprus. Since 2010 nonresident deposits have increased 32 percent (According to the Latvian central bank, foreign direct investment from Russia has increased from 268.6 million euros in 2010 to 356 million euros today). These statistics are especially troubling considering that in 2008 one of Latvia’s largest banks, Parex, was forced to seek a government bailout due to worried investors withdrawing over $120 million in November alone. Situations like Parex forced Latvia to seek a bailout.
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Do Snowden and Browder matter?
The United States wants Snowden back, but Ambassador McFaul insists it’s not extradition, just “returning” him. I’m still not clear on the distinction between forcibly “returning” someone they don’t want to go and extraditing them, or maybe we’re in hoods-and-shackled rendition territory. In any case, even if with no great eagerness, the Russian government instead looks likely to grant his asylum request.
Meanwhile, Moscow petitioned Interpol to put out a “Red Notice” – an international arrest warrant – on financier Bill Browder, the man who seems to have replaced not-so-dearly departed Boris Berezovsky as the Kremlin’s bête noire. The body that reviews such requests, the snappily-named Independent Commission for the Control of Interpol’s Files, decided that this was essentially a political rather than criminal case and declined the request. They had already rejected a “Blue Notice” that would have required member states to gather information on Browder and send it to the Russians.
And, of course, Moscow still regards arms dealer, convicted terrorist supplier and reputed Russian spy Viktor Bout, currently serving 25 years in a U.S. federal penitentiary, as a political prisoner and wants him back.
All of this obviously matters to the principals in question and also to diplomats, for whom this kind of dispute is meat and drink. But does it really matter in the big picture?
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INTERPOL cannot be used by the Russian Federation to seek the arrest of Mr William Browder
On 24 May 2013, the Independent Commission for the Control of INTERPOL’s Files (CCF) concluded that the Russian Federation’s use of INTERPOL’s channels to seek information concerning Mr William Browder was predominantly political in nature and therefore contrary to INTERPOL’s rules and regulations. It recommended that all data relating to Russian Federation’s request concerning Mr Browder be deleted from INTERPOL’s databases.
The General Secretariat immediately implemented the CCF’s recommendation, and all INTERPOL member countries were informed of the CCF’s findings and recommendation as well as the General Secretariat’s actions.
Today, Friday 26 July, INTERPOL received another request from the National Central Bureau of Moscow concerning Mr Browder, this time seeking to locate and arrest Mr Browder with a view to his extradition on a charge of ‘qualified swindling’ as defined by the Russian Penal Code.
INTERPOL considers this charge to be covered by the previous decision of May 2013. Therefore all information related to this request for Mr Browder’s arrest has been deleted from INTERPOL’s databases and all INTERPOL member countries have been informed accordingly.
INTERPOL has taken the decision to make its decisions and actions public in response to the Russian Federation’s request, given their public statement on the matter.
INTERPOL has no further comment at this time. hairy girls микрозаймы онлайн female wrestling https://zp-pdl.com/how-to-get-fast-payday-loan-online.php https://www.zp-pdl.com unshaven girl
WICKER: Russia’s adoption freeze: Is a humanitarian solution within reach?
When the Russian government decided late last year to forbid international adoptions with the United States, the heartbreak was swift and palpable. The Kremlin’s political opportunism had reared its ugly head — denying orphans the chance at a better future and leaving adoptive families incomplete.
Approximately 300 U.S. families, including several in my home state of Mississippi, were in the process of adopting children from Russia when the ban took effect in January. These families had traveled across the world to meet and bond with the children they hoped to welcome into their lives. As the extensive paperwork and formalities progressed, the emotional ties grew stronger.
Today, these “pipeline” families are working tirelessly to challenge Russia’s broken promises and bring attention to the hundreds of orphans still waiting for Mom and Dad. Their pleas have yet to stir a response from Russian officials, who refuse to allow the pending cases to move forward. But growing international support has inspired new hope that a humanitarian solution should prevail.
The resounding consensus by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) is encouraging. Earlier this month, the parliamentary assembly of the 57-country organization overwhelmingly passed a measure I introduced to uphold the sanctity of the adoption process between nations.
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Interpol Rejects Second Request By Russia To Arrest Browder
The International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) has rejected a second request by Russia for the arrest and extradition of U.K.-based businessman William Browder.
Browder has led a global push for sanctions against Russian officials implicated in the case of deceased lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, a former employee of his Hermitage Capital Management investment fund and asset manager.
An Interpol statement said it had concluded that Russia’s aims are “predominantly political in nature.”
Interpol had rejected an earlier request by Russia regarding Browder on the same grounds.
Russia accuses Browder of illegally buying millions of Gazprom shares.
On July 11, a Moscow court convicted Browder in absentia for allegedly aiding Magnitsky in a tax-evasion scheme.
Western governments and international rights groups slammed Russia’s rulings against Browder and Magnitsky, who died under torturous jail conditions in 2009 after exposing a massive scheme by Russian officials to defraud the government. unshaven girl buy viagra online https://zp-pdl.com/fast-and-easy-payday-loans-online.php https://zp-pdl.com/get-quick-online-payday-loan-now.php buy viagra online
Interpol snubs Moscow again in chase of fund manager Browder
Interpol on Friday rejected a second request from Moscow to put British investment fund head William Browder on its search list, dealing a fresh blow to Russia’s drive to jail the man behind a campaign to expose corruption and rights violations.
The decision is the latest twist in a long-running battle between the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Browder, whose investment company Hermitage Capital was once the largest investor in Russia’s equity market.
Interpol has previously refused to put Browder on its international search list, saying in May that Russia’s case against him was “predominantly political”.
On Friday, Interpol said it had received another request from Moscow “this time seeking to locate and arrest Mr. Browder with a view to his extradition on a charge of ‘qualified swindling’ as defined by the Russian Penal Code.”
“INTERPOL considers this charge to be covered by the previous decision of May 2013,” a statement on its website said.
Browder has spearheaded an international campaign to expose corruption and human rights violations in Russia following the death in 2009 of Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer working for Hermitage and investigating a $230 million tax fraud.
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Russia Seeks Interpol to Explain Rejection of Warrant Request for Browder
Russia’s Interior Ministry said Saturday that Moscow expects Interpol leadership to explain its decision to turn down its request seeking to locate and arrest Hermitage Capital head William Browder.
On Friday Interpol reiterated that it could not be used by Russian to seek the arrest Browder, who was recently convicted in absentia by a Russian court on charges of fraud and tax evasion. The Interpol General Secretariat dismissed the request citing “a predominantly political nature” of the case against Browder.
“Russian Interior Ministry continues to consider Interpol an organization that makes decision in the framework of international law and its Constitution, and doesn’t apply political decision or value judgments,” the ministry said in its statement on Saturday.
“In this connection, the Interior Ministry expects to receive exhaustive explanations of Interpol General Secretariat’s position,” the statement said.
Browder, who heads what was once the largest portfolio investor in Russia, was banned from Russia in 2005, ostensibly for national security reasons, and now lives in Britain.
Russia’s case against Browder alleged that he ran companies that “took part in the purchase of Gazprom shares in 1999-2004 at domestic-market prices, circumventing a ban on their sale to foreigners.” The court also ruled that he tried to get access to the company’s financial reporting documents and to influence decision-making via the board of directors.
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Interpol Turns Down Russia’s Warrant Request for Browder
Interpol reiterated on Friday that it could not be used by the Russian Federation to seek the arrest of Hermitage Capital equity fund head William Browder, who was recently convicted in absentia by a Russian court on charges of fraud and tax evasion.
Moscow had previously requested Interpol to issue a “blue notice” for Browder, requiring all 190 member states to “collect additional information about a person’s identity, location or activities in relation to a crime,” according to the agency’s website. But the Interpol General Secretariat rejected the request, citing “a predominantly political nature” of the case against Browder.
“Today, Friday, July 26, Interpol received another request from the National Central Bureau of Moscow concerning Mr. Browder, this time seeking to locate and arrest Mr. Browder with a view to his extradition on a charge of ‘qualified swindling’ as defined by the Russian Penal Code,” the Interpol General Secretariat said in a statement on its website.
“Interpol considers this charge to be covered by the previous decision of May 2013. Therefore all information related to this request for Mr. Browder’s arrest has been deleted from Interpol’s databases, and all Interpol member countries have been informed accordingly,” the statement said.
Browder was tried in absentia by a Moscow court in July and was sentenced to nine years in prison and banned from doing business in Russia for three years.
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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
