Stop the Untouchables. Justice for Sergei Magnitsky.

Why the EU needs a Magnitsky act

European Voice

The European Union should show that it is prepared to act against human-rights abuses in Russia
If there is one thing that truly alarms the Russian elite, it is the prospect of being denied access to their European villas and Europe’s shops. Indeed, within hours of returning to the presidency last May Vladimir Putin passed an executive order pointedly prioritising the fight against “unilateral extraterritorial sanctions” against Russian “legal entities and individuals”.

Although he did not mention Sergei Magnitsky by name, Putin’s move was an unambiguous reference to the threat of targeted sanctions against the Russian officials identified as having played a role in the detention, torture and death of Magnitsky, a lawyer who uncovered the embezzlement of $230 million (€180m) of state money.

Putin’s executive order specifically mentioned the United States. Undeterred, seven months later Congress passed the Justice for Sergei Magnitsky Act, which imposes a travel ban and asset freeze on those who were involved in the events that led to Magnitsky’s death.

Russia’s reaction was furious, expressed most evidently in a hastily adopted law banning the adoption of Russian children by US citizens.

Imagine, then, how much harsher Russia’s reaction would have been if that legislation had been passed by the European Union. For Russians, Europe is closer physically, and more significant economically than the US. Europe’s fashion, private schools and, increasingly, the certainties of its legal systems and free societies are profoundly attractive to wealthy Russians.

But the probability of a tough reaction should not dissuade the EU from doing what it should. Russia has been allowed for too long to lead and manipulate its relationship with the EU.

A European Magnitsky list would be a powerful sign of solidarity with Magnitsky’s family, and a carefully targeted affirmation of European values.

But the EU could go further still. Last October, the European Parliament voted in favour of a recommendation that called for sanctions not just against those who connived in Magnitsky’s death, but also for similar measures against those thought to be responsible for other serious human-rights violations.