Cardin-McCain whistleblower bill could be a threat to U.S.-Russian ties
The Hill
As the White House feverishly lobbies the Senate to approve a long-stalled nuclear-arms treaty, a bipartisan bill seeking answers in the suspicious death of a Russian attorney could escalate tensions between Washington and Moscow.
Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) as co-sponsor, introduced the Justice for Sergei Magnitsky Act of 2010 just before lawmakers went home to campaign this fall. Rep. James McGovern (D-Mass.) has offered companion legislation in the House.
The legislation comes as the Obama administration urges senators to vote for the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), which Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) said last week should not be approved in the lame-duck session. The U.S.-Russia arms treaty needs 67 votes to be ratified.
Read More →
Justice for Sergei
National Post
November 16, 2010 marked the first anniversary of the tragic death in detention of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who uncovered the largest tax fraud in Russian history and paid for it with his life. While his story is one of great moral courage and heroism, his saga shines a spotlight on the pervasive culture of corruption and impunity implicating senior government officials in Russia today.
Working as a tax attorney for Hermitage Capital Management in Moscow, an international investment fund founded by CEO William Browder, Magnitksy blew the whistle on widespread Russian government corruption, involving officials from six senior Russian ministries. The officials he testified against arrested and detained him, beginning a nightmare in which he was thrown into a prison cell without bail or trial, and systematically tortured for one year in an attempt to force him to retract his testimony.
Read More →
Russian rights activists concerned by fabrication of criminal cases
Interfax
A number of Russian lawyers and rights activists believe that the Russian law-enforcement agencies quite often instigate criminal cases against those who are not guilty.
“With [Hermitage Capital fund lawyer] Sergey Magnitskiy and [businesswoman] Vera Trifonova [who both died in remand centres] and in other cases it is provocation and there is not any mention of protecting citizens’ rights,” lawyer Vladimir Zherebenkov said at a news conference today at Interfax’s central office.
Read More →
Rights activist Panfilova call for parliamentary probe into Magnitsky case
Interfax
Human rights activists have proposed an independent parliamentary investigation into the case involving Hermitage Capital Management lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who died in a detention facility.
“We could really use what we haven’t had for a long time, an independent parliamentary investigation. We need a tertiary judge in this situation. We can also conduct an independent investigation, as it is accepted all over the world, which works very well in high-profile cases,” Yelena Panfilova, the head of the Center for Anti-Corruption Research and Initiative Transparency International Russia, told Interfax on Tuesday.
Read More →
Alekseyeva calls for probe into Magnitsky case
Interfax
17 November 2010 – Human rights activists are afraid the case involving the death of Hermitage Capital lawyer Sergei Magnitsky in a detention facility will not be investigated.
“Magnitsky’s death drew noticeable reaction from the media, which was joined by President Medvedev. It seemed to me a guarantee of a prompt and thorough investigation. However, the press campaign has now calmed down. We are getting the impression that the Magnitsky case will soon be brushed under the carpet,” Moscow Helsinki Group Chairman Lyudmila Alekseyeva told a press conference in the central office of Interfax on Tuesday.
Read More →
Statement by President of the European Parliament on the first anniversary of the death of Sergei Magnitsky
16 November 2010, Brussels – European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek made the following statement to mark the first anniversary of the death of Sergey Magnitsky on 16 November 2009.
“We mark tomorrow yet another unfortunate death of a young man fighting for justice. Sergey Magnitsky was a brave man, who in his fight against corruption was unjustifiably imprisoned under ruthless conditions and then died in jail without receiving appropriate medical care. This is a shocking example showing that people fighting against corruption in Russia can feel neither safe nor protected. It is a paradox, because the lawyer Sergey Magnitsky believed very strongly in justice.
His death highlighted the serious shortcomings of the prison and judicial system in Russia and the prevailing atmosphere of impunity.
I raised the case of Sergey Magnitsky’s death during my meeting with President Medvedev in June in Moscow. I also raised the unresolved murder cases of journalists Anna Politkovskaya, Natalia Estemirova and Anastasia Barburova, human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov and others. We had an open discussion with President Medvedev about it and addressed in detail the worrying situation of human rights in Russia.
I urge once again the authorities of the Russian Federation at all appropriate levels to conduct a thorough, impartial and credible investigation in order to bring those involved in and responsible for the death of Sergey Magnitsky to justice. The state should also fully investigate the unresolved brutal murders of independent journalists and human rights lawyers.
The follow-up of this case is also seen by the EU as an indicator of the seriousness of the efforts to reform Russia’s judicial and prison system.
Democracy is about institutions and procedures. We need Russia to have an independent and fair judiciary: the state should protect human rights activists and support people fighting against corruption.” hairy woman payday loan www.zp-pdl.com https://zp-pdl.com/fast-and-easy-payday-loans-online.php займы на карту
One year on Sergei Magnitsky jail death remains mystery
Lt Col Silchenko denied inflicting suffering amounting to torture on the jailed lawyer, who was being held on tax evasion charges when he died in unexplained circumstances in Moscow’s Matrosskaya Tishina detention centre one year ago, and hit back at his accusers.
“What happened was a big misfortune for Magnitsky’s relatives, but the job of the investigation was to investigate, not to put pressure on him. We had enough proof of his guilt,” Lt Col Silchenko, one of Russia’s most elite investigators, told Newsnight.
“The attempt to accuse law enforcement agencies of involvement in this crime is absurd,” he added.
Read More →
Whistleblower Magnitsky
CBC news
A documentary about anti-corruption lawyer Sergei Magnitsky and his allegations of fraud and corruption in Russia will be shown in Western legislatures, the CBC’s Terry Milewski reports.
займ на карту займы без отказа https://zp-pdl.com/fast-and-easy-payday-loans-online.php https://zp-pdl.com/how-to-get-fast-payday-loan-online.php займ на карту онлайн
Sergei Magnitsky one year on
16 November 2010 – One year ago today, three Economist journalists sat in a Moscow restaurant discussing the prospects for the Russian economy with a smart Western banker, who argued that our coverage of Russia was far too harsh, and that business was thriving. The smart new restaurant, full of customers, seemed to support his words.
A few hours earlier, Sergei Magnitsky, a corporate lawyer representing Hermitage Capital Management, once Russia’s largest portfolio investor, died mysteriously in pre-trial detention after being repeatedly denied medical care and in effect subjected to what in most civilised countries would be considered torture. At the time, few people outside the small world of Russian investors and a few human-rights activists had heard of Mr Magnitsky. A year later, his death has become a symbol of the mind-boggling corruption and injustice perpetrated by the Russian system, and the inability (or unwillingness) of the Kremlin to change it.
