Posts Tagged ‘european parliament’
Sergei Magnitsky and the Rule of Law
In November 2009, Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky died in a Moscow detention facility, just short of a year after his arrest on alleged tax evasion charges while defending an investment company on tax fraud and evasion complaints brought by the Russian government. Magnitsky publicly implicated certain Russian officials in an embezzlement scheme and misappropriation of funds from the Russian Treasury and assets of his client.
Magnitsky was tortured because he blew the whistle on a massive government-organized conspiracy to steal $230 million that he discovered and in which he testified against the corrupt officials. He was tortured to drop his testimony and sign a false confession stating that he committed the crime that he discovered. His imprisonment for “tax evasion” was a pretense to retaliate on his whistle blowing. His death has generated significant outcry in the international community, with allegations of torture and detention without trial or other procedural rights, and the denial of critical medical treatment that led to his death.
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Some EU countries ready to impose sanctions on Russian officials who could be involved in Magnitsky case
Interfax
Some EU countries are considering introducing sanctions on Russian officials who could be responsible for the death of Hermitage Foundation lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.
“The foreign ministers of some EU countries are ready to take practical measures and decisions in this area,” European Parliamentarian Heidi Hautala told a press conference at the Interfax central office on Monday.
The statement on the possible sanctions made in the European parliament became a powerful signal to the entire EU to take decisive measures, she said.
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European Parliament members: Russia must permit free assembly, elections
Two members of the European Parliament, visiting Moscow to meet with human rights organizations, called on Russia on Monday to permit citizens to assemble freely without harassment and to guarantee free and fair elections for parliament later this year and for president next year.
“If the elections are not free,” said Kristiina Ojuland, a member of the European Parliament’s foreign affairs committee, “it’s clear the next Parliament would have no legitimacy.”
Ojuland and Heidi Hautula, head of the parliament’s human rights committee, praised Russia for promising an independent investigation into the trial of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the imprisoned former billionaire, but said those officials responsible for the death in pretrial detention of Hermitage Capital lawyer Sergei Magnitsky must be tried and punished.
“We will see very soon if something is accomplished,” Hautula said, “or if it’s just another nice gesture by the president without too many consequences.”
Perhaps hundreds of other similar cases have not reached public attention, Ojuland said. payday loan hairy woman https://zp-pdl.com/online-payday-loans-cash-advances.php https://zp-pdl.com займы онлайн на карту срочно
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MEPs slam Kremlin for human rights abuses ahead of Putin visit
A few days ahead of the Russian government’s scheduled visit to Brussels to meet with the EU executive, members of the European Parliament have expressed its strong concern about what they consider the malfunctioning of the Kremlin’s systems of governance and justice. The Liberals even spoke in favour of imposing restrictive measures.
In its draft motion for a resolution on the rule of law in Russia, the ALDE group called on the member states to consider imposing “an EU entry ban” on some sixty Russian officials involved in the death of Sergei Magnitsky. This Russian lawyer died in prison after he was held in prison for a year without charge. The Liberals also “encouraged” the EU’s law enforcement agencies to “cooperate” in freezing these officials’ bank accounts and other assets.
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Pro-Kremlin party leader calls MEP’s suggestions in Khodorkovsky’s case attempt to put pressure on Russia
Suggestions made by some European Parliament members in the case of Russian ex-oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev are an attempt to put pressure on Russia, Russia’s ruling party leader Boris Gryzlov said.
Members of the European Parliament led by Estonian Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe deputy Kristiina Ojuland moved to impose economic sanctions and travel restrictions on Russian officials involved in ex-oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s trial and conviction.
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Nemtsov called on the EU to impose sanctions against Vladimir Putin
Leaders of Russian “non-systemic” opposition vowed to pursue the introduction of sanctions by Western countries against the concrete of the ruling circles, including Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Deputy Head of Presidential Administration Vladislav Surkov.
The European Parliament is discussing possible sanctions against Russian officials implicated in the death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky and “the Khodorkovsky case, but while it was Putin and Surkov lists, according to unofficial data, there is, and the prospects of introducing sanctions themselves fairly vague.
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Russia’s Vacation from Justice
Russian officials have a selective approach to holidays. When it came to arresting opposition leader Boris Nemtsov on New Year’s Eve and sentencing him on January 2 (a Sunday), no effort was spared. Yet when it came to hearing his appeal, Tverskoy Court remembered that January 1 to 10 is a period of vacation. By law, an appeal against administrative arrest must be heard within 24 hours. The former deputy prime minister has been in detention since December 31, but his appeal has still not been reviewed due to “holidays.” The latest attempt to submit it to court, on January 8, ended with Mr. Nemtsov’s lawyer, Timur Onikov, being escorted out by bailiffs. On January 11, the appeal was admitted as a priority case — by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
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The European Parliament Considers Sanctions against Russia for Khodorkovsky
Moskovsky Komsomolets
The idea of sanctions was suggested by a group of parliamentarians headed by Kristina Ojuland of Estonia. “The European Union openly supported Belarussian opposition. Why not the democratic opposition in Russia as well?” said Heidi Hautala of Finland, chair-in-office of the European Parliament’s subcommittee on human rights. “We cannot permit double standards.” President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek called Khodorkovsky’s verdict a “symbol of systemic problems with supremacy of the law, legal nihilism, and human rights in Russia.”
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Russian MPs chide EU officials for urging sanctions over Yukos verdict
Russian parliament members have criticized European Parliament representatives for proposing visa sanctions against Russian officials involved in the 30 December 2010 sentencing, in a second trial, of former Yukos oil company head Mikhail Khodorkovskiy and his business associate Platon Lebedev. Their reaction was reported by Russian media on 11 January.
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