Stop the Untouchables. Justice for Sergei Magnitsky.

MEPs demand EU sanctions over Magnitsky murder, again

EU Observer

MEPs on the European Parliament’s foreign affairs committee have piled fresh political pressure on their governments to impose sanctions on Russian officials linked to the murder of whistleblower accountant Sergei Magnitsky.

In a resolution drafted by Estonian liberal MEP Kristiina Ojuland, MEPs on Thursday (20 September) by 62 votes against two called on EU governments to make a list of over 60 suspected officials and to impose an EU-wide visa ban and asset-freeze on the lot.

The asset freeze is to extend to the alleged culprits’ families.

The move would see the EU “take a coherent and pro-active stance on … serious human rights violations in Russia,” the resolution said.

Speaking after the vote, Ojuland said that imposing the sanctions would “put real pressure on Russian authorities to start taking criticism on human rights seriously” and that the measures would be “a necessary step against corruption and human rights violators.”

Magnitksy was allegedly tortured and beaten to death in Moscow’s Butryka jail in 2009.

He had been arrested 11 months earlier after exposing a multi-million-dollar tax fraud by high-level Kremlin officials and FSB intelligence officers.

The resolution is the third time the EU parliament has called for action in the case.