Posts Tagged ‘John Dalhuisen’
Warning that Russia’s ‘childish’ NGO bill will harm civil society
Amnesty International has called on Russian parliamentarians to reject a bill it believes will have a chilling effect on Russian human rights defenders and civil society if it becomes law.
The so-called “Dima Yakovlev” bill introduces, among other things, further severe restrictions on non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Russia, and bans the adoption of Russian children by US citizens. It is set to go through its third reading in the Russian Parliament’s Lower Chamber – the Duma – tomorrow.
The bill is named after a Russian child who died after adoption in the US and was drafted as a response to the Magnitsky Act, passed in the US this month, which introduced sanctions on alleged Russian human rights violators. Sergei Magnitsky was a lawyer who died in Russian custody and has become symbol of Russia’s violations of human rights.
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Hearing Postponed In Posthumous Trial Of Magnitsky
A preliminary hearing has been postponed in the posthumous trial of Sergei Magnitsky, the Russian lawyer who died in prison in 2009 after accusing government officials in a massive fraud scheme.
A Magnitsky family lawyer told the Interfax news agency that the family would not cooperate in the trial, which has now been set for February 18. The court announced it will appoint lawyers to defend Magnitsky.
Prosecutors filed new charges of tax evasion against Magnitsky last year. Charges have also been filed against William Browder, the owner of the Hermitage Capital investment fund where Magnitsky worked. Browder, who is outside Russia, is to be tried in absentia.
Supporters, NGOs, and the Kremlin’s own human rights commission say the 37-year-old Magnitsky was denied proper medical care and abused during nearly a year in pre-trial detention. He was arrested after implicating mid-ranking Interior Ministry and tax officials in a $230 million scheme to defraud the government. His case has become an international symbol of Russia’s human rights and rule-of-law failings.
According to Professor David M. Crane, who specializes in international criminal and humanitarian law at Syracuse University College of Law in the United States, the proceedings against Magnitsky are highly unusual.
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Kafkaesque trial denies justice even after death
The trial of a Russian lawyer who blew the whistle on a high-level corruption scandal even though he is dead as a result of mistreatment while in detention is an attempt to deflect attention from those who committed the crimes he exposed, Amnesty International said on the eve of the preliminary hearing scheduled for 28 January in a Moscow court.
Sergei Magnitsky – who died on 16 November 2009 – was charged with the very crimes he exposed triggering a sequence of events that lead to his premature death.
“The Russian authorities’ intention to proceed with the criminal prosecution of Sergei Magnitsky violates his fundamental rights even in death, in particular the right to defend himself in person,” said John Dalhuisen, Europe and Central Asia Programme Director.
“The trial of a deceased person and the forcible involvement of his relatives is a dangerous precedent that would open a whole new chapter in Russia’s worsening human rights record.
“The legal grounds for the posthumous criminal prosecution against Sergei Magnitski to say the least are dubious and the authorities must halt this travesty.”
The criminal proceedings against Magnitsky were closed 13 days after his death on 29 Nov 2009 as required by the existing law.
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