Posts Tagged ‘dominic raab’
Visas and dirty money
SERGEI MAGNITSKY was a Russian lawyer who uncovered a $230m fraud perpetrated by officials against taxpayers, and paid with his life. Since his death in prison in 2009 (he was denied medical treatment as part of an attempt to make him switch sides), campaigners, including his client, the American-born British investor Bill Browder, have been trying to get Western governments to withhold visas from the 60-odd officials involved in the fraud and his persecution.
In Britain, the former Europe minister Denis MacShane has pursued this issue hard, most recently in a debate on January 11th in which he named many of the officials concerned (something that libel-shy British media have so far been reluctant to do). Now the ball is getting another hefty kick thanks to Dominic Raab, the MP for Esher & Walton. With the support of his backbench Tory colleagues, he has instigated a “Backbench Business Debate” on the Magnitsky list on March 7. The motion is as follows:
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British Parliament Questions
14 Dec 2011 : Column 772W
Sergei Magnitsky
Mr Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has given any consideration to bringing forward proposals similar to the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act proposed in the US Congress. [86072]
Mr Lidington: We are aware of the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act, introduced to the U.S Congress in 2011, which if passed, would see sanctions imposed on Russian officials allegedly responsible for the detention, abuse, or death of Sergei Magnitsky.
The Immigration Rules enable us to refuse a visa where, for example, information on an individual’s character, conduct or associations makes entry to the UK undesirable. However, the UK has a long established practice of not commenting routinely on individual visa cases.
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