Stop the Untouchables. Justice for Sergei Magnitsky.

As Russia Counterattacks, Magnitsky-List Supporters Remain Optimistic

Radio Free Europe

Proponents of internationally blacklisting Russian officials implicated in the 2009 death of whistle-blowing lawyer Sergei Magnitsky know they face a determined foe in Moscow.

They hope to persuade other countries to follow Washington’s example in creating a “Magnitsky list,” which refuses entry to 16 officials implicated in the attorney’s prosecution and death and freezes their assets. Activists in Britain and elsewhere are urging their governments to adopt a larger list of 60 names published by the U.S. Helsinki Commission.

How much Russia wants to push back against these initiatives was on ample display on July 11 as a Russian court sought to discredit the efforts by finding Sergei Magnitsky guilty, posthumously, of tax evasion.

Similarly, the court sought to discredit the main international campaigner for Magnitsky sanctions, William Browder, by convicting him, too, of tax evasion and sentencing him in absentia to nine years in prison.

But if Moscow is again underlining its readiness to fight the list, those seeking to get more countries to adopt it say they are undeterred.

What progress the Magnitsky list proponents are making — and how high the stakes are — were equally on display this week ahead of the Russian court decision.