Posts Tagged ‘browder’
HowardKennedyFsi Wins in Landmark Libel Case
HowardKennedyFsi [HKFsi] partners Mark Stephens & Sue Thackeray, have successfully struck out a landmark High Court libel case before Mr Justice Peregrine Simon who, in his Judgment released today, redefined what constitutes “a real and substantial tort” in libel claims in the UK. This will decision will act as a real disincentive to libel tourists using London to launder their reputations.
Acting for the defendants in Karpov V. Browder, Hermitage & others, HKFsi faced a High Court battle in relation to claims of defamation brought by former Russian cop Pavel Karpov in relation to allegations that appeared on a campaigning website run by Mr Browder.
Mr Browder, a UK based fund manager, had retained his Russian lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky to investigate a massive tax fraud. Magnitsky fingered a Russian crime gang. He was later detained and died in custody.
The US response was impressive with President Obama – with unprecedented bi-partisan support – passing the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012. The Act imposed sanctions on Russians allegedly involved in a $230m fraud including Karpov.
Judge Peregrine Simon’s response was equally robust dismissing Pavel Karpov’s claims as an abusive use of the English courts.
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Libel claim over Magnitsky death struck out
A British hedge fund manager saw a long-running libel action brought by a former Russian Interior Ministry investigator struck out by a High Court judge on Monday.
Hedge fund chief Bill Browder, had been accused by Pavel Karpov, 36, of ruining his reputation by alleging the Russian was behind a massive fraud on the Russian taxpayer.
Mr Browder was also being sued for allegedly linking Mr Karpov to the brutal death of anti-corruption activist Sergei Magnitsky.
But striking out the action, Mr Justice Simon said: “The claimaint cannot establish a reputation within this jurisdiction sufficient to establish a real and substantial tort… his connection with this country is exiguous.”
Russia was “the natural forum” for the litigation, the judgment read.
“Taking all these matters into account…I have concluded that these proceedings should be struck out as abuse of the process and/or under inherent jurisdiction.”
Mr Browder, 49, the chief executive of Hermitage Capital Management, appeared relieved as the decision was announced today.
Mr Karpov had earlier admitted he did not possess adequate funds to pursue the case, leading Browder’s lawyers to suggest the court “cannot be satisfied that the Russian state is not behind the claims in some way”.
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UK High Court throws out Russia-linked libel suit
Britain’s High Court has thrown out a libel case brought by a former Russian police officer against a London-based financier who is a critic of corruption in Russia.
Retired policeman Pavel Karpov sued Hermitage Capital Management and its chief executive, William Browder, who has accused Karpov of being part of a network of corrupt Russian officials.
Judge Peregrine Simon ruled Monday that Karpov had only minor links to Britain, and dismissed the suit.
The case is part of the labyrinthine saga surrounding the death of Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer hired by Hermitage Capital, who accused Russian police officials of stealing $230 million in tax rebates after illegally seizing Hermitage subsidiaries.
Magnistky was arrested in 2008 for tax evasion and died in prison in 2009 while awaiting trial. займ онлайн на карту без отказа buy viagra online www.zp-pdl.com www.zp-pdl.com hairy woman
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Sergei Magnitsky libel claim struck out in landmark ruling
Blow to ‘libel tourism’ as high court rules Russian ex-policeman does not have prior reputation to defend in England and Wales.
The high court has thrown out a libel action taken by retired Moscow policeman against a British-based businessman in connection with his campaign for justice for whistleblower Sergei Magnitsky who was murdered in prison four years ago.
The decision to strike out Pavel Karpov’s case out is being seen as a landmark blow against “libel tourism” after the judge ruled that the case could not proceed on the grounds that the Russian did not have a prior reputation in England and Wales to defend.
“His connection with this country is exiguous and therefore there is a degree of artificiality about his seeking to protect his reputation in this country,” Mr Justice Simon ruled.
Karpov was suing Bill Browder and his UK-based fund Hermitage Capital for saying he was complicit in the “torture and murder” of anti-corruption whistleblower Magnitsky on a website and in interviews on video. hairy girl займ срочно без отказов и проверок https://zp-pdl.com/best-payday-loans.php https://zp-pdl.com/emergency-payday-loans.php hairy woman
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UK court throws out Russian Magnitsky libel case
London’s High Court on Monday threw out a libel suit brought against British investment fund manager Bill Browder by a Russian former police officer who denies allegations that he played a part in the death of the lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.
Pavel Karpov, a former Russian Interior Ministry investigator who is on the “Magnitsky list” of people barred from the United States over the lawyer’s death, was suing Browder over four videos and two articles linking Karpov to the case.
Magnitsky, who was acting for Browder and his Hermitage Capital Management at the time, was arrested after accusing Russian officials of a $230-million fraud, and died in prison in suspicious circumstances in 2009.
In Monday’s High Court judgement, Mr Justice Simon said: “I have concluded that these proceedings should be struck out as abuse of the (court) process …”
The judge also found that there was “a degree of artificiality” about Karpov trying to protect his reputation in Britain.
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UK judge throws out libel case against Bill Browder
A High Court judge has thrown out a libel lawsuit brought by a Russian former policeman against Bill Browder, the UK-based fund manager behind the US Magnitsky Act.
Mr Browder had become a hate figure for the Russian leadership after lobbying Congress to adopt the Magnitsky law last year. The law imposed sanctions on Russians allegedly involved in a $230m fraud and the death in custody of Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer Mr Browder had employed to investigate it.
The defamation case had been brought in London by ex-policeman Pavel Karpov, who was attempting to sue over allegations on a campaigning website run by Mr Browder.
Magnitsky died in a Russian jail four years ago but he was convicted of tax evasion this year in a posthumous trial in Russia that drew widespread criticism in the west.
Mr Browder’s lawyers had applied to the High Court to have Mr Karpov’s lawsuit struck out before trial.
On Monday Mr Justice Simon did just that, ruling Mr Karpov “cannot establish a reputation within this jurisdiction” to bring the lawsuit.
The judge said Mr Karpov’s connection with Britain is “exiguous” and Russia rather was “the natural forum” to bring the lawsuit as the “connection with [the UK] is limited”.
Mr Browder’s campaign had accused Mr Karpov of being involved both in the fraud and of being among police who arranged for Magnitsky’s arrest and alleged torture in jail. Mr Karpov’s libel writ said those claims were false.
The judge’s decision is significant because it underscores the growing challenge to people with only a weak link to London bringing libel claims there.
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Britain’s High Court throws out libel suit related to dead Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky
Britain’s High Court on Monday threw out a libel case brought by a former Russian police officer against a London-based financier who is a fierce critic of corruption in Russia.
Retired policeman Pavel Karpov sued Hermitage Capital Management and its chief executive, William Browder, who has accused Karpov of being part of a network of corrupt officials complicit in the death of a Russian lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky.
Judge Peregrine Simon dismissed the suit, ruling that Karpov had only minor links to Britain and “there is a degree of artificiality about his seeking to protect his reputation in this country.”
Browder called the judgment a victory against so-called libel tourism — the practice of litigants taking cases to court in Britain, even when there is no strong link to the country, because the British legal system is perceived as friendly to their claims.
“I think this is a precedent-setting case,” Browder said “If you are a dubious foreign chancer, this precedent makes it much less likely you will succeed in the libel courts.”
The case is part of the labyrinthine saga surrounding the death of Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer hired by Hermitage Capital, who accused Russian police officials of stealing $230 million in tax rebates after illegally seizing Hermitage subsidiaries.
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Sweden’s Shame, Putin’s Gain
Russian President Vladimir Putin sometimes converses in Swedish with his chief of staff, Sergei Ivanov, Ivanov told the Moscow Times in an odd revelation published on October 2.
But President Putin may have had reason to brush up on his Swedish. On September 23, Stockholm refused to clearly guarantee Kremlin critic Bill Browder protection from a Russian arrest warrant while briefing Sweden’s parliament on the case of Sergei Magnitsky. As a result, Browder canceled his trip to Stockholm.
Magnitsky was a tax lawyer who died from abuse in a Russian jail cell nearly four years ago. Russian authorities had detained him in retaliation for exposing a massive tax fraud against the Russian public. In addition to jailing Magnitsky in appalling conditions that led to his death, the Russian government also posthumously convicted him, and Browder in absentia, of tax evasion, and is pursuing other cases against Browder as well.
[See a collection of political cartoons on the European debt crisis.]
In a letter to Browder’s attorneys, Martin Valfridsson, an official in Sweden’s Justice Ministry, said Stockholm could not act on a request from Russia that had not been made.
Left to stand, Sweden’s at best ambiguous position on Browder reflects a disturbing deference to Moscow on a legal matter that even Interpol has refused to respect, labeling it “predominantly political.”
Furthermore, Stockholm’s action is a back door way to thwart progress toward adoption of legislation that would put Sweden, its banks and desirable real estate off limits to Russians connected to Magnitsky’s death or other abuses of power. And it is damaging to the Russian democratic opposition which has enthusiastically endorsed the Magnitsky sanctions effort as “pro-Russian.”
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Sanctions refused against Russians
Sweden has refused to grant safety guarantees to a London-based businessman who has been lobbying Stockholm and other European capitals to impose sanctions and an asset freeze against some 60 Russian officials.
William Browder, co-founder of the investment fund Hermitage Capital, has been leading a campaign to punish the Russian officials for their part in the arrest, and death in custody in 2009 of his former associate Sergei Magnitsky.
The Russian lawyer blew the whistle on a $230 million embezzlement fraud. After his death, the Russian authorities bizarrely put Mr Magnitsky on posthumous trial and found him guilty of embezzlement. Mr Browder was also sentenced to jailed in absentia at the same trial.
Moscow promptly activated an Interpol arrest warrant against Mr Browder — hence his nervousness about travelling abroad and exposing himself to a possible extradition request. Britain has rejected Russia’s attempts to have Mr Browder brought to Moscow to serve his nine-year sentence.
“The Swedes say it is a police matter and the Government has no right to interfere,” said Mr Browder, who has been successfully persuading European Union governments to freeze the foreign assets of the Russian officials. “But this is a straightforward political decision to ensure that I don’t get arrested at Russian behest. The Germans and the Netherlands gave guarantees. This suggests that the Swedes are afraid of upsetting Russia.”
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