Stop the Untouchables. Justice for Sergei Magnitsky.

Russian suspects in Sergei Magnitsky death barred from entry to UK

The Guardian

Tory MP calls for legislation against Russians accused of involvement in tax fraud whistleblower’s death in prison.

Sixty Russians accused of involvement in the torture and death of the tax fraud whistleblower Sergei Magnitsky have been banned from entering the UK.

Magnitsky died in a Russian prison in 2009, a year after being arrested following his conclusion of a corruption investigation that pointed the finger at a host of low-level Russian officials. A report by the Kremlin’s human rights commission found signs that the 37-year-old lawyer had been beaten.

The US passed a bill last year blocking people related to the Magnitsky case from entering the country and blocking their assets, and the European parliament has called for member states to follow suit. It has now emerged that the government has banned people identified on a US list from entering the UK.

The ban was revealed in a previously unreported response to a written question from the Conservative MP Dominic Raab, who asked whether “any of the 60 individuals named on the list published by the Commission on Security and Co-operation in Europe … have visited the UK in the last year”.

The immigration minister Mark Harper replied in April: “The Home Office special cases directorate is already aware of the individuals on the list and has taken the necessary measures to prevent them being issued visas for travel to the UK.”