Posts Tagged ‘huffington post’
Cameron Gets Tough With a Pick-Up Artist, But Not Putin’s Put-to-Death Artists
In a show of strength and leadership British Ministers have taken tough action against someone who is clearly a major threat to British national interests. The government has imposed a ban on entering into Britain of an American called Julien Blanc. But as he gets tough with a fellow citizen of President Obama, David Cameron remains resolutely aligned with President Putin’s view that his fellow citizens should not face similar sanctions to that imposed on Julien Blanc.
Blanc is an absurd sexist self-publicist who describes himself as a ‘pick-up artist.’ Britain is probably better off without his presence but in the same week, MPs of all parties gathered to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the killing of a British employed tax lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky. He died in agony on a Moscow prison floor five years after 12 months of being brutally treated by state officials working for President Putin.
The MPs are still waiting for David Cameron to take any action against those named as linked to his death.
Magnitsky was employed by a British firm, Hermitage Capital, to investigate the disappearance of $230 million which Hermitage paid in tax to the Russian equivalent of HMRC. He found the money had been diverted into the accounts of Putin’s tax police who are at the heart of corrupt business-political nexus that enriches politicians and favoured state functionaries.
The young father of two persisted in his demands that the money be accounted for. He was arrested, thrown into prison, and tortured to try and persuade him to drop the case. He refused and was then he was so badly treated he died.
Magnitsky’s employer, Bill Browder, an American born British citizen was so outraged he used his firm’s considerable resources to track down those responsible for his employee’s death and find out where they had bank accounts or assets overseas.
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Sochi Olympics: Remembering Sergei Magnitsky
Today, on the eve of the Sochi Olympics, over 200 writers from around the world — including Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie, and Russian novelist Lyudmila Ulitskaya — published an open letter condemning the Russian government’s attacks on free expression, and calling on Russia to create “an environment in which all citizens can experience the benefit of the free exchange of opinion.”
Regrettably, as the globe’s attention turns to Russia for a celebration of sport, the Russian reality is that Vladimir Putin’s administration persecutes sexual minorities, brutally suppresses political dissent, and supports Bashar al-Assad’s murderous regime in Syria, among other intolerable transgressions. All of these abuses rely on a culture of impunity and corruption, and the absence of the rule of law. As such, addressing these fundamental problems is essential to improving the human rights situation in Russia overall.
To that end, I recently chaired the inaugural meeting in Brussels of the Justice for Sergei Magnitsky Inter-Parliamentary Group. While working in Moscow as a tax attorney for a London-based investment fund, Magnitsky uncovered widespread corruption, which involved senior officials from six Russian ministries and deprived Russian taxpayers of over $230 million. In 2008, he testified against those responsible, and was subsequently arrested and imprisoned at their behest without bail or trial in Botkyrka, where Holocaust hero and honorary Canadian citizen Raoul Wallenberg was once held. Tortured in detention, Magnitsky refused to recant even as his health deteriorated, he was denied medical treatment, and, after excruciating suffering, he died in jail in November 2009 at the age of 37. Earlier this year, in a move that would make Kafka blush, Magnitsky was posthumously tried and convicted of the very crimes he had uncovered.
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Europe Urged To Adopt Russia Sanctions After Brutal Death Of Whistleblower Sergei Magnitsky
European nations could begin imposing tough sanctions on Russia for its failure to investigate the suspicious death of a whistleblowing lawyer, who was exposing official corruption.
The body which advises the Council of Europe has said European nations should adopt “targeted sanctions” against individuals involved in the death of Russian tax lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, unless immediate steps are taken by Russia to investigate his death. Human rights campaigners have greeted the recommendation as a key victory.
Possible sanctions may include more visa bans and the freezing of accounts “if the competent authorities in Russia fail to respond adequately to its demands within a reasonable period of time,” the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).
The resolution approved on Tuesday, named ‘Refusing impunity for the killers of Sergei Magnitsky’, urged the Russian authorities to fully investigate the circumstances and background of Magnitsky’s death, and the possible criminal responsibility of all officials involved.
PACE does not have the power to enact the sanctions, only recommend that European member states uphold them. Parliamentarians described themselves as “appalled” by Magnitsky’s death in pre-trial detention in Moscow in 2009, and by the fact that none of the persons responsible have yet been punished.
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A Good Week for Some Political Prisoners in Russia… a Bad One for Russian Democracy
Last week was a good week for some political prisoners in Russia: Mikhail Kodhorkovsky and Pussy Rioters Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina are free. It was a terrible week for Russian democracy, a proof that prison terms are handed out and cancelled not as a result of fair and open trials, as a result of the ruling by independent courts, but as a decision by its president, who rules as he feels fit. The timing of the amnesty smacks of old school: a major international event coming up [the Sochi Olympics], open the jails, suggest that there is humanism, disarm critics. Just like during Soviet times, before major talks. But have no doubt, Putin’s message is that its all happening because “I took the decision”, because ” I want it to happen”, and I could decide otherwise as I please.
Putin seemingly feels invulnerable. He did pull off some big stunts this year : Snowden (not his natural ally), Syria (by default). He is for sure proud of how he used the liberal New York Times to chastise the West. He looks down on Western leaders as weaklings. Mr.Putin mistakenly thinks that a temporary lack of strong leadership in the West is a sign of decline. He has no idea about the resilience of our societies, that our weak moment will pass, like the flu. He sells anti-western sentiments in Russia and the world, not admitting to himself that this rhetoric is way past its “sell by date”, and like relabeled, but bad perishable food perhaps quells hunger, but soon causes severe stomach ache. He surely knows, (it used to be his job to figure it out) that the west is no military threat to Russia. Of course he also knows, that the real threat to his everlasting position as president are the decaying economy, the spread of values of democracy and freedom, transparency and the rule of law, the apparent suffocating of creativity, freedom of speech and organization.
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Bill Browder, The Brit Fighting Russia Death Threats And Libel Suits To Take On The Kremlin
A Russian policeman planning to sue a British hedge fund boss through British courts, for alleging he was part of a conspiracy to torture and murder lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, could end up “driving a truck through British law”.
The case, if a judge allows it to be heard, will be a true test for the long battle for libel reform in the UK.
On Wednesday, a judge will consider whether an hitherto unknown Russian official, Lieutenant Colonel Pavel Karpov, can use the British justice system and British lawyers to fight his case.
Russian officials have called financier Bill Browder a fraudster and a fantasist, and he is the subject of death threats, legal battles and diplomatic crises.
But, he says, it will not deter him from fighting for justice for a friend who he believes died at the hands of Russian authorities.
Browder alleges Russian officials falsely imprisoned, tortured and killed his lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky after both he and Browder blew the whistle on a massive scandal, involving criminal gangs colluding with Russian authorities to steal millions from Russian taxpayers.
“They are so desperately trying to cover it up, that they are willing to kill the key whistleblower, prosecute him posthumously, and pursue me in every possible way, including threatening my life,” Browder told The Huffington Post UK.
“We weren’t the main victims of the fraud, the Russian people were the victims. But the other victim was Sergei, who exposed the fraud. When he died, it changed my life. I couldn’t live comfortably knowing he died because of me.”
A British judge will hear arguments this week from both sides as to whether the case is an “abuse” of the British legal system, because it concerns a Russian litigant.
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Why Russia’s Attempt to Convict a Dead Man Matters
Today — as though more evidence were required to demonstrate the upside-down state of human rights and the rule of law in Russia — the country’s prosecutors resume their efforts to convict a dead whistleblower of the very corruption he exposed. The posthumous trial of Sergei Magnitsky has properly been called “grim comedy” by a group of French legislators, and it is only the most recent — and patently absurd — element of the Russian government’s strategy to cover up fraud, theft, and human rights violations committed by its own high-ranking officials.
Magnitsky uncovered the scheme — which involved officials from six senior Russian ministries and deprived Russian taxpayers of over $230 million — while working in Moscow as a tax attorney for Hermitage Capital Management, an international investment fund based in London. In 2008, he testified against the officials responsible, and was subsequently arrested and detained at their behest without bail or trial. He refused to recant even as his health deteriorated, he was denied medical treatment, and he died in jail in November 2009 at the age of 37. An investigation into his death — and into allegations that he was badly beaten in prison — was abruptly dropped this week.
Russian authorities continue to insist that he was complicit in the fraud, and they have begun inventing new crimes of which to accuse him in an attempt to further undermine his credibility. Magnitsky is now under posthumous investigation for illegally purchasing shares of Russian energy giant Gazprom, despite the fact the transaction was approved years ago by the Russian Federal Securities Commission. As well, Russian law enforcement revealed last month that it may hold him responsible for the country’s 1998 default for supposedly interfering with a $4.8-billion transfer from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to the Central Bank of Russia. However, none of these transparently self-serving allegations change the truth that Sergei Magnitsky blew the whistle on widespread corruption among powerful people, and paid for it with his life. Indeed, given the ongoing legal proceedings and smear campaign, even that price now appears to be insufficient.
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Why Russia’s Attempt to Convict a Dead Man Matters
Today — as though more evidence were required to demonstrate the upside-down state of human rights and the rule of law in Russia — the country’s prosecutors resume their efforts to convict a dead whistleblower of the very corruption he exposed. The posthumous trial of Sergei Magnitsky has properly been called “grim comedy” by a group of French legislators, and it is only the most recent — and patently absurd — element of the Russian government’s strategy to cover up fraud, theft, and human rights violations committed by its own high-ranking officials.
Magnitsky uncovered the scheme — which involved officials from six senior Russian ministries and deprived Russian taxpayers of over $230 million — while working in Moscow as a tax attorney for Hermitage Capital Management, an international investment fund based in London. In 2008, he testified against the officials responsible, and was subsequently arrested and detained at their behest without bail or trial. He refused to recant even as his health deteriorated, he was denied medical treatment, and he died in jail in November 2009 at the age of 37. An investigation into his death — and into allegations that he was badly beaten in prison — was abruptly dropped this week.
Russian authorities continue to insist that he was complicit in the fraud, and they have begun inventing new crimes of which to accuse him in an attempt to further undermine his credibility. Magnitsky is now under posthumous investigation for illegally purchasing shares of Russian energy giant Gazprom, despite the fact the transaction was approved years ago by the Russian Federal Securities Commission. As well, Russian law enforcement revealed last month that it may hold him responsible for the country’s 1998 default for supposedly interfering with a $4.8-billion transfer from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to the Central Bank of Russia. However, none of these transparently self-serving allegations change the truth that Sergei Magnitsky blew the whistle on widespread corruption among powerful people, and paid for it with his life. Indeed, given the ongoing legal proceedings and smear campaign, even that price now appears to be insufficient.
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Russian Bloggers Expose Corruption, One Top Official at a Time
Can a businessman who is connected with organized crime, banned on these grounds from entering a country where his business is located, and has foreign citizenship be a senator? In Russia, the answer is yes. At least, this is the result of an investigation made by the country’s No. 1 blogger, Alexei Navalny. On March 14, he published documents that prove that Senator Vitaly Malkin not only runs business in Canada (which is against the law in Russia), but he has been denied a visa to that country because Canadian authorities suspect him of links with money laundering networks. Moreover, Malkin has (or had) a double Israeli citizenship, which is prohibited for members of either house of the Russian Parliament. Besides, Malkin was a member of a delegation of Russian parliamentarians last year who toured Washington, D.C., attempting to prevent passing of the Magnitsky Act. The blogger demanded that Malkin’s appointment be invalidated. The senator’s spokesperson denied the accusations but failed to comment on the documents.
In recent months, similar reports of corruption in the highest ranks of the government have become almost a daily routine. Last week, the Chairperson of Duma Anti-Corruption Committee Irina Yarovaya was accused by Navalny of living in an undeclared $2,900,000 flat in downtown Moscow. The week before, the blogger found that the Governor of Pskov Andrey Turchak owned a luxury house worth 1,270,000 Euro in Nice, France. And it’s not just Navalny; other bloggers are also discovering transgressions of members of Parliament, governors and other top officials. Most investigations deal with undeclared property or illegally acquired academic titles.
Bloggers even coined a humorous term for this activity — pekhting — after a veteran MP, Chairman of Duma Ethics Committee and Putin loyalist Vladimir Pekhtin. Earlier this year Navalny published documents indicating that the deputy owns two expensive apartments in Miami. After initially denying the accusations, Pekhtin eventually had to resign from the Parliament. His act sent shockwaves through the ranks of bureaucrats who had become used to impunity in exchange for loyalty.
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Russia Put Dead Man on Trial to Avoid Looking Silly
On Monday 4 March a man called Sergei Magnitsky will go on trial in Moscow for fraud and tax evasion. If he’s found guilty, it’s not clear where Mr Magnitsky will serve his sentence, because he’s been dead since 2009.
Now this is what I call a courtroom drama. Will the defence put their client on the stand, and risk submitting him to cross-examination – presumably via ouija board – or alternatively, will they insist on his right to remain silent?
Will Magnitsky get bail, or will the authorities consider him a flight risk?
Meanwhile, the preliminary hearings for the inquest of Alexander Litvinenko were going on in London last week. He was the Russian former intelligence agent who died of polonium poisoning in London in 2006. The British government is moving to have a lot of the evidence heard in secret on grounds of national security, but also apparently for fear of annoying the Russians and making it more difficult for British companies to do business in Russia.
That’s the key thought to hold – the fear of of making it more difficult for British companies to do business in Russia.
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