Moscow Recruits Interpol
The Russian authorities have requested an Interpol Red Notice against William Browder, head of the Hermitage Capital Management investment fund and a key architect of the Magnitsky Act. Author and analyst Alexander Podrabinek notes that Interpol has a history of honoring the Kremlin’s politically motivated requests.
At the end of April, Moscow’s Tverskoy District Court issued an arrest warrant in absentia for British citizen William Browder. The Russian justice system is accusing him and the late Sergei Magnitsky of purchasing Gazprom shares between 1999 and 2004. Browder could only be arrested in absentia because he is not willing to appear in the Tverskoy District Court, rightly believing that “justice” there is nothing but fiction. Sergei Magnitsky is not in the courtroom either. In 2009, he was killed in the Matrosskaya Tishina prison to prevent him from publicly exposing the crimes of a gang of police investigators and tax officials.
According to a statement by the Russian Interior Ministry, Browder “acquired more than 130 million Gazprom shares worth at least 2 billion Rubles at domestic-market prices, which caused large-scale damages to the Russian Federation.” The nature of the crime is unclear. The point is that at the time it was forbidden for foreign investors to buy Gazprom shares on the market. On Browder’s initiative, Russian citizens and Russian legal entities founded dozens of companies, which then purchased Gazprom shares (for the market price) and waited for the day when they would be able to sell them for a higher price on the international market. This is a normal speculation, with its risks and its investments. There is nothing illegal here. Apart from an understandable resentment of someone who bought something cheaply and intends to sell it at a higher price, there is nothing objectionable in these actions. According to the Russian “justice” system, however, this is a crime.
The case does not have any prospects in court. It will be impossible to carry out the sentence. Magnitsky is dead, and Browder is beyond the reach of Russia’s authorities. The fact that a dead man is being tried posthumously makes the trial not only pointless but also immoral. Nevertheless, the regime decided to take this shameful step, and the reason is clear. The international scandal that resulted from Sergei Magnitsky’s death, and US sanctions that followed with regard to those connected with this crime motivate the Kremlin to prove its innocence by accusing the deceased of committing a crime, along with his colleague William Browder.
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MEPs ponder parliament-level Russia sanctions
It is early days, they have no majority and it has never been done before, but MEPs in the Liberal group are pondering the creation of a European-Parliament-level travel ban list on Russian officials.
Group leader and former Belgian PM Guy Verhofstadt floated the idea in a statement on Thursday (2 May).
“I fully believe that the European Union should follow the US Congress and Senate in adopting a sanctions list. If the European Council fails to act in this regard, then the European Parliament should establish its own list based on the US Congress visa ban list,” he said.
Verhofstadt was referring to a US ban on 18 Russian officials said to be involved in the murder of Russian whistleblower Sergei Magnitsky.
The 37-year-old accountant died in suspicious circumstances in prison in 2009 after exposing corruption by high-level officials in the interior ministry.
The US Congress forced a reluctant State Department to put his alleged killers on a blacklist by threatening to block a US-Russia trade treaty if US diplomats did not act.
Under the EU treaty, the European Parliament has no powers on sanctions.
The EU foreign service can propose them and EU countries decide by unanimity whether or not to go ahead.
A Liberal group contact said one option is the US model – threatening to block other legislation where MEPs do have jurisdiction.
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Under Child Adoption Threat, Ireland Drops Magnitsky List
Ireland has dropped plans to impose U.S.-style Magnitsky sanctions on Russia after Moscow warned that it might respond by banning Irish parents from adopting Russian children.
The Russian opposition assailed Ireland, saying it had not only bowed to Kremlin blackmail but had also shown a lack of leadership as the current president of the European Union.
Irish lawmakers had drafted legislation to blacklist Russian officials implicated of human rights violations, similar to the sanctions implemented by the U.S. late last year.
But Russia’s ambassador to Ireland, Maxim Peshkov, wrote to the Irish parliament’s foreign affairs committee in March that any attempt to introduce a Magnitsky list might have a “negative influence” on an agreement on child adoptions between the two countries.
Several Irish parents subsequently contacted committee members after the letter was made public, expressing concern that pending adoptions for Russian children might be canceled.
Pat Breen, chairman of the foreign affairs committee, said Thursday that lawmakers had decided to scrap the Magnitsky list and instead pass a motion calling on the government to convey the committee’s concern over the death.
“We have reached a motion that fulfils our obligations on human rights,” he said, according to The Irish Times.
One senator, David Norris, told the committee that the Russian government should be “thoroughly ashamed” for “this use of children,” while Jim Walsh, the senator who proposed the blacklist, expressed disappointment that no sanctions would be enacted, the newspaper said. “But,” Walsh added, “politics is about achieving compromise.”
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Irish parliament to drop Magnitsky List plan after warning
The Irish parliament is set to limit its reaction to the Magnitsky affair to a statement of concern, after Russia warned against US-style sanctions.
A motion by its joint foreign affairs committee has been redrafted to say Dublin will seek reassurances from Moscow on its respect for human rights.
Members had advocated blacklisting Russian officials linked to the death of whistle-blower Sergei Magnitsky.
Moscow then linked any Irish sanctions to adoptions of Russian children.
Its ambassador to Dublin, Maxim Peshkov, wrote a letter to the foreign affairs committee of the Oireachtas (the Irish houses of parliament) on 11 March saying Russia might stop adoptions by Irish parents if parliament endorsed the Magnitsky Act.
Russia banned Americans from adopting Russian children soon after the US Congress passed the legislation in December.
MPs in several EU countries are considering following the American example.
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Irish parliament backs down from sanctioning Russian officials
An Irish parliamentary committee has backed down from sanctioning Russian officials implicated in rights abuse following a warning that it could jeopardize a bilateral adoption agreement, the Irish Times reported on Thursday.
A resolution urging Irish leadership to express concern over the death of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky in a Moscow pretrial detention center in 2009 was unanimously passed by the committee on foreign affairs.
But it dropped its earlier plans to call for an EU-wide blacklist on officials implicated in the case, similar to the one passed in the United States last year.
Russian Embassy in Dublin said in March the blacklist could “have a negative influence” on the pending adoption agreement, though it later denied making a direct link between the two issues.
Pat Breen, chairman of the Irish parliamentary committee, dismissed allegations that the Russian stance amounted to blackmail, while Senator Jim Walsh, who proposed the blacklist, called the resolution a “compromise,” according to the Irish Times.
Some 1,500 Russian children have been adopted by Irish citizens since the early 1990s.
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Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade – Resolution on the case of Mr Sergei Magnitsky
At its meeting on 1 May 2013, it was agreed that the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade notes:
– that Mr. Sergei Magnitsky died in prison having been held for 358 days at the Butyrka detention centre in Moscow;
– that the independent inquiry by the Russian Human Rights Council found that he had died as a result of beatings by prison guards;
– the dropping of charges of causing death by negligence against two doctors at the prison by refusing Mr. Magnitsky treatment for gall bladder disease and pancreatitis;
– the work and recommendations of our European Parliament colleagues, Ms. Kristiina Ojuland MEP, Rapporteur for the Committee on Foreign Affairs on the Magnitsky case, and Ms. Barbara Lochbihler MEP, Chair of the Sub-committee on Human Rights;
– the European Parliament recommendation of 23 October 2012 to the Council;
– that the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Eamon Gilmore, speaking at this Committee on 17 April, 2013, said as follows: “However, I can tell members that I did raise the case of Sergei Magnitsky at the Foreign Affairs Council and have argued that this is an issue that should remain on the agenda at the highest political level in the European Union’s relationship with Russia, including the summit with Russia, which takes place during every Presidency. The decision last month by the investigative committee of the Russian Federation to close the criminal investigation into his death is highly regrettable. I share the strongly-worded concerns which were expressed by Catherine Ashton on this issue and I call on the Russian authorities to reopen the investigation.”;
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Oireachtas committee backs down from sanctioning Russian officials
An Oireachtas committee has backed down from sanctioning Russian officials involved in the death of a lawyer there. A motion to list officials involved in the death of Sergei Magnitsky, freeze their assets and issue visa bans for them has been replaced by a motion which calls on the Government to convey the committee’s concern over the death.
This motion was unanimously passed by the Oireachtas committee on foreign affairs.
The Russian ambassador to Ireland wrote to the committee in March warning that any move to introduce a Magnitsky law could “have negative influence” on an adoption agreement between the two countries.
Pat Breen, Fine Gael TD and chairman of the committee, said after the meeting he “wouldn’t regard as blackmail” the failure by the committee to support sanctions. “We have reached a motion that fulfils our obligations on human rights,” he said.
Fianna Fáil Senator Jim Walsh who proposed the original motion said after the committee meeting he was “disappointed we didn’t have some sanctions”.
“But politics is about achieving compromise,” he added. The approved motion was proposed after Fine Gael TD Bernard Durkan proposed an amendment to Mr Walsh’s motion removing the sanctions.
Several members of the committee had been contacted by people trying to adopt Russian children who were fearful the applications could be jeopardised. The Russian government should be “thoroughly ashamed” for “ this use of children”, Independent Senator David Norris told the committee. He had been contacted by one couple who had already adopted a Russian child and wanted to adopt a second child from Russia but were were concerned after reading about the ambassador’s letter. The motion approved by the committee was about “realpolitik”, he said afterwards. “You have to be realistic if you want to get things done,” he added.
The approved motion notes the Russian Human Rights Council’s findings that Mr Magnitsky “died as a result of beatings by prison guards” and the dropping of charges of negligence against two doctors. It calls on the Government to use the EU presidency to highlight its concern over the death.
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Irish Parliament Backs Down on Magnitsky List
An Irish parliamentary committee avoided pushing for a blacklist on Russian officials implicated in rights abuse following a warning that it could jeopardize a bilateral adoption agreement.
The foreign affairs and trade committee passed a resolution urging Irish leadership to express concern over the prison death of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky in 2009, the Irish Times said Thursday.
But it dropped its earlier plans to call for an EU-wide blacklist on officials implicated in the case, similar to the one passed in the United States last year.
Russian Embassy in Dublin said in March the blacklist could “have a negative influence” on the pending adoption agreement, though it later denied making a direct link between the two issues.
Committee head Pat Breen dismissed allegations that the Russian stance amounted to blackmail, while Senator Jim Walsh, who proposed the blacklist, called the resolution a “compromise,” the Irish Times said.
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We might be a small country, but we can’t allow Russia to bully us over adoptions
THE Government should strongly resist Russian threats to scupper an adoption agreement between Ireland and Russia if we support sanctions against Russian officials connected with the death of a Moscow-based lawyer. The same goes for Russian warnings that trade links between Ireland and this increasingly mafia state could also be jeopardised.
The Russian authorities are trying to stop Ireland from using its current presidency of the Council of the European Union to push for the implementation of EU-wide sanctions against Russian officials suspected of being involved in the death of the whistleblower Sergei Magnitsky. The exploitation of orphaned Russian children as blackmailing bait shows how immoral the Putin regime is.
A capitulation to this kind of blackmail would amount to surrendering to a regime that pays little heed to democratic norms. Under Vladimir Putin, Russia has receded into a Stalinist-like dictatorship where human rights, freedom of expression, media plurality and political diversity have been severely eroded.
The background to this furore centres on a plucky Russian lawyer called Sergei Magnitsky. He ended up behind bars in 2008 after he uncovered what he claimed was systematic and large-scale corruption and fraud carried out by Russian officials and police officers. When Mr Magnitsky reported the theft he was arrested himself and accused of tax evasion.
Sergei Magnitsky died in a pretrial detention centre in Moscow in November 2009. The 37-year-old father of two had been held, without trial, for 358 days. According to his family and friends he died from injuries and medical problems sustained after repeated abuse and torture while in detention.
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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
