Posts Tagged ‘henry jackson society’
Dr Andrew Foxall on BBC Newsnight about libel tourism
Director of the Russia Studies Centre at the Henry Jackson Society, Dr Andrew Foxall, spoke to BBC Newsnight about the High Court’s decision to throw out a libel case against Bill Browder, the former client of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.
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Press Release: The case for a British Magnitsky Act
Campaigners urging the British Government to adopt stringent sanctions against Russian officials suspected of torture and corruption have renewed their call for action, as a new poll reveals overwhelming public support for the measure.
Despite two European Parliament resolutions calling for member states to impose visa sanctions and asset freezes on Russian officials involved in the arrest, torture and death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, as yet the Government has failed to follow the lead of the US in passing the Magnitsky Act, which places travel and financial sanctions on those suspected of crime and human rights abuses in Russia and names those involved in a public US Government listing.
Parliamentarians and campaigners have said the failure to bring about a British law similar to the Magnitsky Act undermines David Cameron’s call at the G8 Summit for a crackdown on tax transparency and has enabled corrupt officials to do business freely and with impunity in the UK.
A new YouGov poll commissioned by the Henry Jackson Society think tank has revealed the vast majority of the British public would support legislation to refuse visas and freeze the assets of Russian officials who are believed to be involved in corruption, torture and human rights.
Key results of the survey of 1,860 people include:
·Overall, almost three quarters of those polled (72 per cent) said they would support a British Magnitsky Act, compared with just six per cent who would oppose such a measure. This rises to 78 per cent of Conservative voters.
·72 per cent of people believe corruption in Russia is widespread, with four per cent believing it is not widespread.
·Just 14 per cent of those polled believe the British Government is doing as much as could be reasonably expected to stop money from Russian crime and corruption entering the UK. 46 per cent of Conservative voters and 49 per cent of Labour voters believe the Government should be doing more.
Executive Director of the Henry Jackson Society Dr Alan Mendoza said: “We in the West have a responsibility to halt the spread of human rights crimes and corruption in the Russian political system.
“The inaction of the British Government in bringing about a law which would rightly place sanctions on those suspected of serious human rights abuses makes a mockery of our ability to pose as champions of freedom and liberty.”
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Russian suspects in Sergei Magnitsky death barred from entry to UK
Tory MP calls for legislation against Russians accused of involvement in tax fraud whistleblower’s death in prison.
Sixty Russians accused of involvement in the torture and death of the tax fraud whistleblower Sergei Magnitsky have been banned from entering the UK.
Magnitsky died in a Russian prison in 2009, a year after being arrested following his conclusion of a corruption investigation that pointed the finger at a host of low-level Russian officials. A report by the Kremlin’s human rights commission found signs that the 37-year-old lawyer had been beaten.
The US passed a bill last year blocking people related to the Magnitsky case from entering the country and blocking their assets, and the European parliament has called for member states to follow suit. It has now emerged that the government has banned people identified on a US list from entering the UK.
The ban was revealed in a previously unreported response to a written question from the Conservative MP Dominic Raab, who asked whether “any of the 60 individuals named on the list published by the Commission on Security and Co-operation in Europe … have visited the UK in the last year”.
The immigration minister Mark Harper replied in April: “The Home Office special cases directorate is already aware of the individuals on the list and has taken the necessary measures to prevent them being issued visas for travel to the UK.”
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Friends of Russia or Friends of Putin?
The recently-established lobby group Conservative Friends of Russia (CFOR) is doing little to dispel suspicions that its sympathies lie with the Russian government.
Last week it published an article on its website accusing the Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Russia, Chris Bryant, of “incompetence” over his failure to hold an annual general meeting at the required time. To accompany the piece, which has now been taken off their site, CFOR selected the snapshot of Mr Bryant in his underwear, originally posted on a gay dating site, which circulated in the tabloids years ago. The relevance of that particular photo to his stewardship of the APPG was not explained.
This most recent episode of sophomoric hackery has induced Honorary Chairman Sir Malcolm Rifkind to resign his post, and Robert Buckland to step down as Honorary Vice President. According to the Telegraph, “A spokesman for Sir Malcolm said he was ‘very unhappy’ about the article and it was the ‘final straw’, adding to long-held concerns about the way the group was being run.”
Bryant has responded by accusing CFOR of engaging in crude, Kremlin-esque tactics to discredit him and force his resignation as the Chairman of the Russia APPG, and suggested that the group is acting at the behest of the Russian embassy: “I gather the Conservative Friends of Russia have covered themselves in homophobic glory,” and “clearly [they] would prefer a Putin patsy to run the all-party group on Russia. Did the Embassy pay for them?” CFOR chairman Richard Royal responded by accusing Bryant of using alleged homophobia as a “smokescreen [to] divert attention from the real issue”.
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Celebrities, dissidents pay tribute to Magnitsky
On Tuesday night, playwright Sir Tom Stoppard, activist Bianca Jagger and legendary dissident Vladimir Bukowski joined Hermitage Capital CEO William Browder in paying tribute to Sergei Magnitsky, the anti-corruption attorney killed in prison three years ago.
The panel gathered to attend a performance of the play “One Hour Eighteen Minutes,” which recounts the final moments of Sergei’s life, after being beaten and left to die in a cell in Moscow’s Butyrka prison. The title of the play refers to the time that prison guards prevented civilian medics from entering his cell to register his death. Written by Russian playwright Elena Gremina, this new production is directed by Noah Birksted-Breen, winner of the Channel 4 Theatre Director’s Award in 2006.
The performance was scheduled to commemorate the three-year anniversary of Sergei’s death on the 16th of November. The anniversary itself saw the passage of the historic Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act in the US House of Representatives. The bill, which would impose sanctions on the individuals implicated in Magnitsky’s imprisonment and death, as well as other Russian individuals credibly suspected of human rights abuses, is expected to pass in the Senate and be signed into law by President Obama before the end of the year.
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Andrei Sannikov: Today’s Russia threatens independence of Belarus
The leader of European Belarus civil campaign took part in a discussion in the UK parliament.
Adoption of the Magnitsky Act can become a serious precedent for applying international pressure on the governments of Russia and other countries with blatant human rights violations. The universal jurisdiction of the act is vital, Andrei Sannikov, a former Belarusian presidential candidate and leader of European Belarus civil campaign, said at a roundtable discussion held in the UK Parliament on November 14.
“The Russian authorities follow in Lukashenka’s footsteps and carry out the methodical offensive against human rights and civil liberties. The strong international pressure, also by means of such legislative initiatives as the Magnitsky Act, should become an effective tool to counter impunity of officials. We cannot close our eyes on the dangerous processes in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine,” Andrei Sannikov said. He enlisted the names of Belarusian political prisoners and emphasised the necessity of taking urgent measures to save the lives of people suffering from incredible pressure in prisons.
Answering the question about threats from Russia, Andrei Sannikov said the Russia of today poses a threat to Belarus’s independence and noted the Russian leaders still had imperial ambitions and didn’t hide them saying about Russia’s “zones of influence” and “spheres of interests”.
The event in London, which was organised by the Russia Studies Centre at The Henry Jackson Society and Hermitage Capital, was held to commemorate the third anniversary of the death of Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian attorney who worked for Hermitage Capital Management company in 2007-2008. Sergei Magnitsky and his colleagues exposed corruption among Russian officials involved in takeovers of companies, jailing businessmen and large-scale tax evasion. Having been accused of tax frauds, Magnitsky was taken into custody and died on November 16, 2009, in notorious Matrosskaya Tishina detention centre in Moscow.
The event was attended by British prominent political and public figures – former Conservative MP Lord Norman Lamont, former minister of justice Jonathan Djanogly and Labour MP Chris Bryant; representatives of human rights groups Index on Censorship, ARTICLE 19, Reporters without Borders, the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, journalists of leading UK media and university professors.
The Magnitsky Act (Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act) is expected to be adopted by the US Congress to impose sanctions, including visa restrictions, on the Russian officials suspected of having relation to the prosecution and death of Sergei Magnitsky.
The Magnitsky Act may become the foundation for the legislative aid for the democratic movement in Russia. The judicial system in Russia serves either to the authorities or to the rich. The fate of Russian opposition leaders directly depends on the adoption of the Magnitsky Act, says Natalia Pelevine, the Democratic Russia Committee head. займ срочно без отказов и проверок займ на карту без отказов круглосуточно https://zp-pdl.com/online-payday-loans-cash-advances.php https://zp-pdl.com/fast-and-easy-payday-loans-online.php payday loan
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US Magnitsky Accountability Act Discussed at House of Commons
International Criminal Law Journal
On Wednesday 14th November at Portcullis House, Steven Kay QC joined a roundtable discussion hosted by the British foreign policy think-tank, The Henry Jackson Society.
The topic under discussion was the fate of Russian lawyer and whistleblower, Sergei Magnitsky, and international efforts to sanction those responsible for his death.
Also on the panel were former British Ambassador to Russia Sir Anthony Brenton; Hermitage Capital CEO, Bill Browder; Guardian journalist and author of Mafia State, Luke Harding; and Director of Research at the Henry Jackson Society, Michael Weiss. The panel was chaired by the Conservative MP, Jonathan Djanogly.
Panelists discussed details of the Magnitsky Accountability Act, which will be the subject of a vote in the US Congress on 16 November, as well as proposals for similar legislation in European countries including the United Kingdom.
The broader debate focused upon Western countries’ business relationships with Russia, poor diplomatic relations, the realities imposed by the gas market and, addressing the notion of ‘dirty’ Russian money in London.
Aside from Magnitsky Act-type legislation, the panel discussed the potential utility and constraints attached to greater use of existing UK legislation, such as the 2002 Proceeds of Crime Act and the 2006 Fraud Act. In particular, the panel felt that the existing legislation was underused despite inherent difficulties in meeting the standard of proof and in the collection of evidence. Steven Kay QC suggested that the lower threshold of culpability used in command responsibility cases in international criminal law, ‘known or should have known,’ could be used to enable seizure of proceeds of crime laundered through London Banks. He also put forward that in order to address a problem essentially international in character, law-makers and lawyers could revisit Trinidad and Tobago’s 1989 proposition relating to the International Criminal Court, which suggested corruption and money laundering as proper candidates for international jurisdiction.
Finally, Sir Anthony Brenton drew the discussion to a close by emphasising that in light of the shifting economic balance, there is an opportunity for the European Union collectively to press Russia on reforming its business practices and regulation. займы на карту без отказа быстрые займы онлайн https://zp-pdl.com www.zp-pdl.com срочный займ
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The White Ribbon Project – For Democracy and Freedom in Ru
“The White Ribbon Project” is a campaign dedicated to raising awareness about the ongoing pro-democracy protest movement in the Russian Federation, symbolised by the white ribbon lapel pins popularised by protestors.
Inspired by the thousands of ordinary Russians who have peacefully protested against electoral fraud and in favour of democratic reform since December 2011, the Russia Studies Centre at the Henry Jackson Society asked key Russian activists and cultural figures to share their feelings about what the white ribbon symbolises for them.
This is the first of a series of videos, explaining why Russian protestors are wearing the white ribbon.
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Magnitsky Bill Poised to be Voted into Law
Yesterday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee postponed its vote on the landmark Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act, in what is hopefully only a minor setback in the astounding campaign to bring justice to the tormenters and murderers of Magnitsky. This came only two weeks after the House Committee on Foreign Affairs unanimously approved the bill, clearing the path for the proposed legislation to come to a vote in the House. One suspects that this delay, requested by Senator Jim Webb (D-VA), is a consequence of the quiet battle between the White House and Congress over the legislation, which the Obama administration had feared would stymie their much-vaunted “Reset” policy.
Unluckily for Obama—but luckily for dissidents—it doesn’t look like there’s anything that can stop the Magnitsky bill from passing now. The bill has near unanimous support in Congress, and it would be politically impossible for President Obama to veto human rights legislation on this scale.
For readers who are not aware of his case, Sergei Magnitsky was an attorney employed to represent Hermitage Capital, who uncovered an elaborate ruse by government officials whereby Hermitage companies were fraudulently re-registered and used to apply for a tax refund of $230 million. Magnitsky went public with his accusations, and was subsequently pressured into confessing to the theft of the $230 million, and imprisoned without trial in November 2008. During his detention, Magnitsky’s 20 written petitions for medical attention were ignored, and he was left untreated for medical conditions which eventually led to an agonising death—allegedly hastened by torture– on November 16, 2009.
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