Posts Tagged ‘macshane’
Russia’s Silicon Valley woos British investors
A delegation from Russia’s proposed ‘Silicon Valley’ development, Skolkovo, came to the UK this week in an effort to persuade UK businesses to invest in the high-tech hub being built on the outskirts of Moscow.
They faced awkward questions, however, about the political landscape that companies might face if they transferred operations to Russia. Denis MacShane, Labour MP for Rotherham, wrote to Lord Green, the trade minister, criticising the UK’s Department of Trade and Industry for hosting the conference, and pointing to the difficulties that many UK companies had faced in Russia.
“I believe the Government should add…an official health and safety warning so British businesses seeking to be involved in Russia do so with their eyes open to the risks they run,” Mr MacShane wrote.
He cited the case of Hermitage Capital, a hedge fund which was forced to leave Russia, and whose lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, died in jail after uncovering an alleged $230m corruption scheme by high-level officials.
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MP Denis MacShane warns against investing in Russia
A former minister for Europe has urged the Government to attach “health and safety” warnings to promotional material that encourages businesses to invest in Russia.
Denis MacShane, Labour MP for Rotherham, has written to Lord Green, the trade minister, in protest at a conference scheduled for today and sponsored by UK Trade & Investment that will promote Skolkovo, billed as Russia’s Silicon Valley.
Citing the damage caused to companies by “corrupt officials in Russia”, he wrote: “It seems irresponsible for British companies to be putting themselves in harm’s way without full disclosure about the tragedies that could befall them in Russia.
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Cameron Council of Europe Visit a Waste of Air Miles
The Prime Minister’s flying visit to the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly today is mission undeliverable, even if many may feel Cameron has a good case. But the way he has pandered to the worst atavistic elements of the Europhobe right and the clamour of the off-shore press for retributionist punishment of prisoners means he will hardly get a hearing.
A simple solution to the issue of prisoners voting rights, for example, would be to do what the French do which is to empower judges to add an additional sentence of loss of civic rights for those imprisoned for serious crimes. This is in conformity with ECHR judgements. Switzerland, the dream nation for anti-EU Tories, has allowed its prisoners to vote for 40 years as have all the more civilised European nations.
Britain has eight, just 8, cases before the ECHR but the real problem is the 100,000 plus cases from Russia. One answer may be to suspend Russia as it was clearly an error to let Russia join the Council of Europe in 1996 when the country had made no effort and still makes no effort to introduce rule of law. The death of Sergei Magnitksy, lawyer of a British firm, in gruesome circumstances in a Russian prison highlights the contempt Russia’s kleptocratic rulers have for legal norms.
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Russia launches attack on Labour MP Denis MacShane
Russia has launched a highly unusual personal attack on Labour MP Denis MacShane, accusing him of deliberately trying to sabotage UK-Russia relations.
The Kremlin lashed out after the former Foreign Office minister organised a debate in the House of Commons on human rights in Russia during which he suggested that Vladimir Putin, the prime minister, should not be made welcome at the London Olympics this summer.
His stance angered the Russian embassy which issued a furious statement.
“The irresponsible attempts of certain parliamentarians to damage our bilateral relationship by taking advantage of real problems cannot but give grounds for serious concern,” the embassy said.
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UK MP wants to bar Russian officials from London Olympics
UK Member of Parliament Denis MacShane called for barring a number of Russian officials from attending the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
MacShane addressed parliament on Wednesday with a report on human rights in Russia, including the case of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who died in pre-trial detention two years ago.
MacShane challenged Prime Minister David Cameron to follow the example of Margaret Thatcher, who in 1980 headed the campaign to boycott the Moscow Olympics in protest over the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
“In 1980, Mrs. Thatcher had the guts to say no to a formal British endorsement of the Moscow Olympics,” MacShane said.
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David Cameron urged to get tough with Russia over Sergei Magnitsky’s death
PM should use Kremlin visit to raise the case of whistleblower lawyer’s death, say politicians from US and UK.
Former US presidential candidate John McCain is among a number of senior American politicians urging David Cameron to bar from Britain dozens of Russian officials implicated in the controversial death of a whistleblower.
The prime minister arrives in Moscow on Monday, his first visit to the Kremlin, amid mounting international pressure to follow the lead of the US by introducing visa bans for individuals linked to the death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.
The 37-year-old was working for a British company when he exposed the biggest tax fraud in Russian history. After accusing Interior Ministry officials, Magnitsky was arrested and died in police custody after being denied essential medical care. Investigators say the father of two was tortured and badly beaten in the hours before his death in November 2009.
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Great Britain might introduce sanctions against the Russians on the Magnitsky List
WPS: What the Papers Say
MacShane said, “Magnitsky’s death was gruesome but nobody has ever been brought to answer for it even though identities of these people are known. Hermitage Capital is a British company. Its head William Browder is a citizen of Great Britain. The authorities of Great Britain cannot remain a disinterested observer.”
“Since Moscow is clearly unwilling to prosecute the people whose decisions and actions resulted in the death of an innocent, it becomes our duty. Putin and Medvedev ought to be reminded that the days of Josef Stalin are over and impunity with them. The United States has made its contribution. It’s our turn now.”
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British MP Urges Russia Visa Restrictions Over Magnitsky Case
British Member of Parliament (MP) Denis MacShane has called on the British government to place visa restrictions on Russian officials accused of involvement in the death of Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer who died in prison in 2009.
“What the United States government has done is to list 60 Russian officials who are named in connection with Mr. Magnitsky’s death and I’m urging the British prime minister, as our other British MPs, to do the same thing,” MacShane told RFE/RL’s Russian Service.
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Plea for end to Khodorkovsky ‘persecution’
A group of western politicians has urged Dmitry Medvedev, Russian president, to “end the persecution” of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the jailed Yukos oil tycoon, just days before a Moscow judge begins reading the verdict in his second trial.
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