Stop the Untouchables. Justice for Sergei Magnitsky.

Russia Expresses Anger Over E.U. Visa Restrictions

New York Times
By ELLEN BARRY

MOSCOW — Russian officials responded angrily on Thursday to a proposal that would deny European visas to a list of 60 officials who have been implicated in the death of Sergei L. Magnitsky, a lawyer who died in pretrial detention in Moscow last year.

Konstantin I. Kosachev, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the State Duma, condemned the proposed ban as “Bolshevik tactics” and said Russia might be forced to “very harshly retaliate” if the proposal went forward.

He said such pressure “could have extremely negative consequences for the entire relationship between Russia and the European Union.” Russia’s Foreign Ministry called the move “direct interference in the domestic affairs of a sovereign state, and open pressure on the judicial system of the Russian Federation.”