Russia gives Ireland adoption warning over Magnitsky law
Russia has warned Ireland it could break off talks on cross-border adoptions if lawmakers press for sanctions against Russian officials implicated in the death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, according to a letter obtained by AFP on Friday.
The threat follows Moscow’s decision to ban US adoptions of Russian orphans in retaliation for a recent US law freezing the assets and denying entry to America of those tied to Magnitsky’s death in custody in 2009.
The warning was included in a letter from Russian ambassador Maxim Peshkov to Pat Breen, the chairman of the Irish parliament’s committee on foreign affairs, which last month began debating plans for an Irish version of the US Magnitsky law.
Dated March 11, the letter cites the US ban on adoptions and says the committee’s proposals “can have negative influence on the negotiations on the adoption agreement between Russia and Ireland being proceeded”.
Bill Browder, the US-born investor who was Magnitsky’s employer when he died and who is campaigning for an EU version of the US law, condemned the ambassador’s remarks.
Read More →
Putin rejects foreign adoptions by same-sex couples
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Moscow should amend its adoption agreements with countries which have legalised gay marriage.
Asked about the legalisation of same-sex marriage and adoption in France, he said other countries should respect Russia’s “moral standards”.
French President Francois Hollande is expected to sign the bill into law after it was passed by parliament.
Moscow has also linked adoptions to a US black list of its officials.
It has emerged that Russia warned the Irish Republic last month that it could stop the adoption of Russian children by Irish parents if the parliament in Dublin endorsed the Magnitsky Act.
The act places sanctions on 18 Russians allegedly involved in the death of anti-corruption whistleblower Sergei Magnitsky in a Russian prison in 2009.
Russia banned Americans from adopting Russian children soon after the US Congress passed the legislation in December.
MPs in several EU countries, including the Irish Republic, are considering following the American example.
Read More →
EU must take a firm stand against Russian blackmail
Reacting to news that the Russian Ambassador to Ireland has written to Irish Members of Parliament threatening to block a treaty on Irish adoptions of Russian children unless Irish parliamentarians drop a Russian-critical human rights resolution, Guy Verhofstadt, ALDE leader reacted in strong terms:
Reacting to news that the Russian Ambassador to Ireland has written to Irish Members of Parliament threatening to block a treaty on Irish adoptions of Russian children unless Irish parliamentarians drop a Russian-critical human rights resolution, Guy Verhofstadt, ALDE leader reacted in strong terms:
“Russian foreign policy once again is showing its ugly face. Blackmailing used by the Russian authorities against Ireland is unacceptable and must be met by a solid and united EU stand. The letter that the Irish Parliament received from the Russian Embassy, threatens that the passing of the Magnitsky legislation in the Dail will lead to a ban on Irish adoption of Russian children. We cannot succumb to pressure.
The European Council should not shy away from its responsibility in agreeing to an EU wide Magnitsky visa ban list. It is now also essential to have the case of Sergey Magnitsky placed on the agenda of the forthcoming EU-Russia Summit. I call on the Council and Commission Presidents and High Representative to clearly state their solidarity with the Irish Presidency in Office.”
Read More →
Russia Using Adoption Leverage in Ireland
The Russian government has warned in a letter to Ireland’s Parliament that it may halt negotiations on an agreement for cross-border adoptions if an Irish parliamentary committee approves a resolution critical of rights abuses in Russia.
The letter signals Russia is ready to wield adoption policies as leverage to discourage Western criticism of human rights abuses in Russia with countries other than the United States, where an adoption ban took effect late last year.
The United States Congress passed the Magnitsky Law that banned travel to the United States and ordered the seizure of assets of Russian officials suspected of ties to the death in prison of the lawyer Sergei L. Magnitsky, and other officials suspected of corruption and rights abuses.
In response, Russia’s Parliament passed the Dima Yakovlev Law that bans American couples from adoption of Russian orphans. It is named for a Russian toddler who died after he had been left in a hot car by his adoptive American father.
The letter to Ireland’s lawmakers suggested Russia would proceed with this tactic despite criticism that it harms the interests of the country’s orphans, while also dashing the hopes of prospective adoptive parents abroad, who form an emotional and motivated constituency to influence elected officials. But the Kremlin, much diminished in its foreign policy reach since the end of the cold war, has few other levers of influence left.
Read More →
Moscow uses Irish adoption threat to block use of Magnitsky list
Russia has threatened to block Irish adoptions of Russian children if the Dublin parliament adopts a US-style “Magnitsky List” imposing sanctions on Russian officials.
Moscow barred US citizens from adopting Russians in retaliation for the US Congress passing the Magnitsky Act last December, marking a chill in transatlantic relations. The act imposed visa bans and asset freezes on officials allegedly connected with the 2009 death in jail of the anti-corruption lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.
The warning to Ireland, in a letter from Russia’s ambassador to the parliament’s foreign affairs and trade committee, is the first time Moscow has threatened similar action against another country.
It appears designed to head off attempts to persuade other EU states to adopt Magnitsky measures. Ireland holds the EU presidency, and a draft motion before the committee last month called on the government to use that role “to impose EU-wide visa sanctions”.
The March 11 letter from Maxim Peshkov, a career diplomat, warns that steps by Ireland towards adopting such sanctions “can have negative influence on the negotiations on the Adoption Agreement between Russia and Ireland being proceeded”.
The Russian embassy in Dublin on Thursday declined to connect calls to Mr Peshkov, saying the embassy was “closed for technical reasons”.
Bill Browder, the formerly Russian-based fund manager who employed Magnitsky and has led the campaign to bring those linked to his death to justice, said the letter was an “attack on Irish democracy”.
“Even though Ireland is a small country, the fact that they are [EU] president means they have a hugely disproportionate voice, for a fixed period,” he said. “The Irish parliamentarians have interpreted this as a threat to their adoptions.”
Read More →
Russia threatens Ireland with adoption ban
Russia has threatened to impose a US-type adoption ban on EU presidency country Ireland if its MPs pass a tough resolution on the late anti-corruption activist Sergei Magnitsky.
Its ambassador in Dublin, Maxim Peshkov, made the threat in a letter to deputies on the Irish parliament’s foreign affairs and trade committee dated 11 March and seen by EUobserver.
Referring to the committee’s draft resolution of 4 March, which urged the Irish EU presidency to push for an EU-level visa ban on Magnitsky’s alleged tormentors, Peshkov said: “This approach … can have negative influence on the negotiation of the Adoption Agreement between Russia and Ireland being proceeded.”
Magnitsky, a Russian accountant, died in pre-trial detention in prison in 2009 after exposing a scam by Russian officials to embezzle $230 million from the Russian treasury.
His former employer, UK-based investment fund Hermitage Capital, has amassed evidence that prison guards starved him of pancreatic medication and subjected him to a brutal beating in the final hours of his life.
Its case was strong enough for the US to impose sanctions on 18 Russian officials earlier this month.
Read More →
Magnitsky Law Implemented
The United States believes there should not be impunity in Russia for those who violate human rights. In this week/today’s “Policy Brief” segment, we’ll take a closer look:
займы онлайн на карту срочно hairy woman https://zp-pdl.com/online-payday-loans-in-america.php https://zp-pdl.com hairy girls
Russia orders arrest of US investor
http://media01.radiovaticana.va/audio/ra/00368492.RM
Russia has called for the detention of U.S.-born investor Bill Browder, whose fund invested billions in Russian companies, adding to tensions between Moscow and Washington.
Read More →
‘Spectacular attack’ on Oireachtas committee over plan to sanction Russian officials
A “spectacular attack” has been launched on Irish democracy by Russia over attempts to get a law dropped which would sanction officials responsible for the death of a lawyer who uncovered corruption, a US businessman has warned.
Russia has warned the joint Oireachtas committee on foreign affairs and trade it could stop Irish adoptions of Russian children if it today supports the law, which has been introduced in the US, Canada and Italy, William Browder has said.
Mr Browder visited the committee in February and urged members to adopt the law, which sanctions Russian officials allegedly responsible for the death of his lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, in 2009.
A letter to the committee in March by the Russian embassy in Dublin states a move towards enacting such a law “can have negative influence on the negotiations on the adoption agreement between Russia and Ireland being proceeded”.
An original motion by Fianna Fáil Senator Jim Walsh is to go before the committee today supporting a law which would list a number of individuals for asset freezes and visa bans. But an amendment is also to be proposed by Fine Gael TD Bernard Durkan which drops references to such sanctions.
“If this goes ahead it would be a spectacular attack on Irish democracy,” Mr Browder told The Irish Times . “It would be a sad day for Irish democracy.”
Read More →
-
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
