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Sergei Magnitsky – the final insult: Russia continues to ‘desecrate the memory’ of the whistleblower lawyer
irst he was imprisoned. There he died after being denied medical treatment. Then he was put on posthumous trial. Now the Russian lawyer who dared to expose a £140m fraud is accused of perpetrating the crime himself.
Russian investigators have opened a second posthumous criminal investigation into the whistleblower lawyer Sergei Magnitsky who exposed an alleged £140m fraud by Moscow tax officials, it was claimed.
Mr Magnitsky, who died in a Russian prison in 2009 after suffering beatings and being deprived of medical treatment, became the first dead person to be put on trial in modern Russia when he was last year convicted of tax fraud in proceedings described by critics as evidence of “Sovietisation”. The Kremlin denied the prosecution was an act of revenge to distract attention from corrupt officials but supporters said a further criminal investigation has now come to light, this time accusing Mr Magnitsky of the massive theft which he had himself uncovered.
The death of the 37-year-old auditor opened a new rift between Moscow and Washington, which passed a “Magnitsky Act” banning nearly 20 Russian officials implicated in the lawyer’s death from the United States and threatening to add more senior figures to the list.
Bill Browder, the British-American financier who employed Mr Magnitsky and has since led the campaign to expose corruption in Russia, said that the lawyer had now been named as the ringleader of four suspects accused of masterminding the $230m (£140m) tax refund theft.
Campaigners said the investigation, disclosed in official papers obtained on behalf of the Magnitsky family, belied efforts by President Vladimir Putin to improve Russia’s international standing ahead of next month’s Winter Olympics by releasing prisoners including the former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky and members of the feminist punk band Pussy Riot.
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The verdict that finally goes against libel tourism: Fatal blow for individuals with little or no link to UK trying to bring claims
The use of the English courts by individuals with little or no link to the United Kingdom to bring expensive libel proceedings was dealt a likely fatal blow yesterday after judges threw out two defamation suits brought by foreign claimants.
Bill Browder, the millionaire hedge fund owner who has led the campaign for justice over the death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, won the dismissal of the case brought against him by a former Russian police officer accused of playing a part in the 2009 death of the tax adviser while in custody.
Mr Justice Simon, sitting in the High Court, struck out the lawsuit brought by Pavel Karpov, a retired interior ministry investigator, after ruling that he “cannot establish a reputation” in England which would justify his claim that he was libelled by Mr Browder being heard in this country.
Lawyers said the ruling, which accompanied a separate judgment throwing out a defamation suit brought by a Serbian tobacco magnate on similar grounds, sets a precedent which will make it far more difficult for litigants who are unknown in Britain to use the courts to seek libel damages.
The practice of so-called “libel tourism”, under which international claimants have been able to file cases in London for alleged libels principally committed outside the UK, was already due to become more restricted when the 2013 Defamation Act comes into force.
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Retired Russian police officer accused of complicity in tax fraud and murder of whistleblowing lawyer Sergei Magnitsky ‘receiving Kremlin help’
A retired Russian police officer accused of complicity in a massive tax fraud and the murder of whistleblowing lawyer Sergei Magnitsky was claimed to be receiving Kremlin help in bringing a multi-million pound libel case in London.
Lieutenant Colonel Pavel Karpov, an unemployed former interior ministry investigator who lives in a luxury Moscow flat, is suing British businessman William Browder, a millionaire hedge fund investor who employed Mr Magnitsky and is leading a campaign against corruption in the Russian government, for substantial damages in the High Court.
A pre-trial hearing was told yesterday that the case is likely to cost a minimum of £6m and that Mr Karpov has admitted he cannot afford to fund the proceedings himself. He is refusing to name a businessman friend who he insists is guaranteeing bank loans to fund the case and he says has no connection with the Russian state.
Mr Browder is seeking to have the libel suit, which arises from a series of internet postings made on his behalf about the Magnitsky scandal, thrown out as an abuse of the legal system on grounds including the claim that Mr Karpov has no links with Britain. In turn, Mr Karpov is seeking to have elements of Mr Browder’s defence struck out, including any suggestion that he could have had a hand in or responsibility for Mr Magnitsky’s death.
The case is likely to raise fresh debate about the use of the English courts for so-called “libel tourism”. Mr Karpov has said he is justified in bringing his proceedings in part because the website used to post the material he claims is defamatory is based in the United Kingdom.
Antony White QC, for Mr Browder and his company, Hermitage Capital Management, told the court there was “evidence” that previous libel proceedings brought by Mr Karpov in Russia linked to the Magnitsky case had been instigated from within the Kremlin, adding there were grounds to suspect that a similar arrangement was in place in the London case.
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Magnitsky affair: Russia has allowed suspected killers of a whistleblowing lawyer to escape with impunity, says damning report
Council of Europe investigation into death of tax specialist who uncovered a $230m fraud against the state rubbishes Russian version of events.
Russia has allowed the suspected killers of a whistleblowing lawyer to escape with impunity and instituted a high-level “cover up” of corruption which the international community must do more to counter, according to a damning report.
A six-month investigation into the death of Sergei Magnitsky by the Council of Europe found that the Moscow authorities had mounted “belated, sluggish and contradictory” investigations into the death of the tax specialist who uncovered a $230m (£149m) fraud against the Russian state.
Mr Magnitsky, who was working for British hedgefund Hermitage Capital Management when he uncovered the fraud in 2008, was arrested by the same tax investigators he had accused and held for a year in Russian prisons before dying from a serious untreated health condition following a beating on the eve of his death.
The 41-page report by a Swiss MP stops short of naming Mr Magnitsky’s alleged killers but in a move which will further heighten diplomatic tensions over the case, it describes that case as “emblematic” of corruption and human rights abuses in Russia and calls on the international community to consider further measures to pressure Moscow into acting on the case.
The United States has already imposed visa restrictions and frozen assets of 60 Russian officials linked to the death of Mr Magnitsky, provoking a retaliatory ban from Moscow on American citizens adopting Russian children.
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Russian bid to keep tabs on London based campaigner fails
Financier Bill Browder is at forefront of a campaign seeking justice for Sergei Magnitsky, the Russian lawyer who exposed corruption before dying in a Moscow prison.
Interpol has rejected a request from Russia to monitor a financier leading the campaign over the death of a whistle-blowing lawyer – after deciding that Moscow’s demand was “predominantly political”.
The Russian authorities, who have already issued an arrest warrant for US-born hedge fund manager Bill Browder, had asked the international policing body to place him on a list requesting its 190 member countries to alert Moscow of his whereabouts. The move could have presaged an attempt by Russia to have London-based Mr Browder arrested and extradited to face fraud charges.
But Interpol this weekend refused the request and issued a public statement saying it had removed all information about him from its databases.
The decision is a significant victory for Mr Browder, who has been at the forefront of a campaign to seek justice for Sergei Magnitsky, the Russian lawyer who exposed corruption before dying in a Moscow prison in 2009 after being beaten and then denied essential medical treatment. Mr Browder, whose Hermitage Capital Management employed Mr Magnitsky, has said he is the target of a politically motivated vendetta driven by Russian president Vladimir Putin in revenge for exposing the Magnitsky case.
In a statement, Hermitage Capital said: “The decision by Interpol to delete the Russian ‘all-points bulletin’ for William Browder is a clear sign that a deeply corrupt regime will not be allowed to freely persecute whistle-blowers who have exposed it.” займы онлайн на карту срочно займ на карту онлайн https://zp-pdl.com/emergency-payday-loans.php www.zp-pdl.com buy over the counter medicines
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Human Rights in Russia: Pussy Riot takes part in committee debate
The human rights situation in Russia is worsening, a member of the feminist punk-rock collective Pussy Riot told a Human Rights Subcommittee hearing on Tuesday.
Subcommittee chair Barbara Lochbihler (Greens/EFA, DE) said “The new restrictive laws impeding the work of NGOs and human rights defenders, an increase in political prisoners and politically-motivated charges, as well as increasing harassment of LGBTI activists in Russia are particularly worrying. The EU must keep human rights at the core of EU-Russia relations and human rights violations need to be more clearly communicated when engaging with Russia”.
The Pussy Riot member argued that the human rights situation in Russia was deteriorating, and explained the case brought against her group. She also reported that Pussy Riot’s Maria Alekhina was still in prison, on hunger strike, and that her appeals were being denied even though she is the mother of a young child.
Contributors to a discussion on Russia’s laws on political prisoners included Karinna Moskalenko, of the International Protection Center, William Browder, of Hermitage Capital Management, and Veronika Szente Goldson, of Human Rights Watch.
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Russia asks Interpol to monitor movements of British hedge fund boss Bill Browder
Russia has applied to Interpol to monitor the travel and whereabouts of a British hedge fund boss wanted by Moscow who is at the heart of a diplomatic stand-off over the alleged killing of whistle-blowing lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.
The international policing body will decide this week whether to approve the request from the Russian authorities to issue an “All Points Bulletin” for US-born financier Bill Browder, whose Hermitage Capital Management employed Mr Magnitsky prior to his death in a Russian prison in 2009.
The death of Mr Magnitsky, who died at the age of 37 after being beaten and then denied essential medical treatment, has become a symbol of corruption in Russia and prompted a law in the United States imposing visa bans and freezing the assets of officials involved in the alleged killing.
A Russian court last month issued a warrant for the arrest in absentia of Mr Browder, who has led a campaign for justice for Mr Magnitsky, on tax evasion charges which the businessman said are part of a politically-motivated vendetta against him by Russian president Vladimir Putin.
The Independent understands that the application from the Russian Interior Ministry stops short of a request for a so-called Interpol “red notice” requesting the arrest of a wanted individual.
Instead it will request Interpol’s 190 member countries to alert Moscow to his whereabouts, potentially allowing the Russian authorities to make a direct demand for him to be detained if he travels abroad.
An Interpol committee will meet on Thursday to decide whether to accept the Russian request, which can be rejected if it is found to breach Article Three of its constitution which states that it is ‘strictly forbidden for the organization to undertake any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character’.
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Russia wants Interpol to impose ‘All Points Bulletin’ on British hedge fund boss Bill Browder
Russia has applied to Interpol to monitor the travel and whereabouts of a British hedge fund boss wanted by Moscow who is at the heart of a diplomatic stand-off over the alleged killing of whistle-blowing lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.
The international policing body will decide this week whether to approve the request from the Russian authorities to issue an “All Points Bulletin” for US-born financier Bill Browder, whose Heritage Capital Management employed Mr Magnitsky prior to his death in a Russian prison in 2009.
The death of Mr Magnitsky, who died at the age of 37 after being beaten and then denied essential medical treatment, has become a symbol of corruption in Russia and prompted a law in the United States imposing visa bans and freezing the assets of officials involved in the alleged killing.
A Russian court last month issued a warrant for the arrest in absentia of Mr Browder, who has led a campaign for justice for Mr Magnitsky, on tax evasion charges which the businessman said are part of a politically-motivated vendetta against him by Russian president Vladimir Putin.
The Independent understands that the application from the Russian Interior Ministry stops short of a request for a so-called Interpol “red notice” requiring the arrest of a wanted individual.
Instead it will require Interpol’s 190 member countries to alert Moscow to his whereabouts, potentially allowing the Russian authorities to make a direct demand for him to be detained if he travels abroad.
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