Posts Tagged ‘MEP’
MEP who joined Magnitsky group hopes EU draws Russian “black list”
MEP Leonidas Donskis has joined an interparliamentary group, members of which maintain they seek justice for lawyer Sergey Magnitsky who died in a Russian prison in 2009 after revealing a financial fraud scheme of Russian authorities.
Donskis, the first Lithuanian representative in the group, told BNS he expected the European Union (EU) to have enough courage to respond to the case to follow the example set by the United States’ to draw a “black list” of Russian officials.
“The Magnitsky case has bared a sensitive problem one cannot remain indifferent to. We’re talking about a lawyer who chose to stand up to corruption, unveiled horrific facts of corruption and sacrificed his life, which is already obvious,” Donskis told BNS on Wednesday.
He said his joining the group was a demonstration of the position of the European Parliament (EP) and Lithuania.
Set up in Canada in December, the group now includes 16 politicians from 12 countries: Canada, Estonia, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Sweden.
Magnitsky died in a Moscow prison in November of 2009. Russian authorities had charged him with tax evasion, however, his colleagues maintain that the case was developed in revenge for his testimony, which said that employees of law-enforcement institutions could be connected with the embezzlement scheme he had exposed.
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MEP calls for entry ban on those involved in Russian lawyers’ death
The EU has been urged to impose an entry ban for “all people” incriminated in the death of a Russian anti-corruption lawyer.
Sergei Magnitsky is said to have uncovered what he described as a ‘web of corruption’ involving Russian tax officials.
He is said to have uncovered the theft of more than €152m and, after reporting it to the authorities, he was himself detained on suspicion of aiding tax evasion, and died in custody on 16 November 2009 at the age of 37.
The lawyer’s colleagues insist the case against him was fabricated to make him halt his investigation into a number of high-profile corrupt officials.
Green MEP Werner Schulz, deputy chairman of the EU-Russia parliamentary cooperation committee, has praised the late lawyer for “daring” to speak out against alleged corruption in his country.
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EU should impose entry ban on those incriminated in Magnitsky case
The Greens / European Free Alliance
Commenting on the report on Russia adopted today in plenary, Green MEP Werner Schulz, Vice-Chair of the EU-Russia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee, said:
“The adoption of this report shows that the European Parliament is as clear as ever that any cooperation with the Russian Federation must be conditional on the respect by Russia of democratic standards and compliance with fundamental human rights and the rule of law.
In his recent state of the nation speech, Vladimir Putin lamented the country’s so-called moral decline. At the same time a flood of restrictive and immoral laws maintain a stranglehold on civil society. Any hopes that the controversial president could loosen the reins of the “managed democracy” have faded.
The Members of the European Parliament supported my proposal by a large majority and called for immediate release of the detained members of the punk band Pussy Riot. I expect Commission President Barroso and Council President van Rompuy to repeat this demand to President Putin at the upcoming EU-Russia summit.
For years now Russia has been viewed and discussed as an indispensable strategic partner of the EU. But vast natural resources and exports of western technology and consumer goods have not led to any strategic cooperation. Corruption and arbitrary behaviour by the authorities are not consistently opposed, as in the case of the lawyer Magnitsky who dared to uncover a hugely complex network of corruption. Unlike the officials guilty of his death, he is still being persecuted, even posthumously. Visa liberalisation without binding human rights criteria is not acceptable. The European Union should impose an entry ban for all people incriminated in the Magnitsky-Case and should simultaneously facilitate visas for Russian citizens.” buy over the counter medicines срочный займ на карту онлайн https://zp-pdl.com/online-payday-loans-in-america.php https://zp-pdl.com/online-payday-loans-in-america.php hairy woman
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MEPs demand EU sanctions over Magnitsky murder, again
MEPs on the European Parliament’s foreign affairs committee have piled fresh political pressure on their governments to impose sanctions on Russian officials linked to the murder of whistleblower accountant Sergei Magnitsky.
In a resolution drafted by Estonian liberal MEP Kristiina Ojuland, MEPs on Thursday (20 September) by 62 votes against two called on EU governments to make a list of over 60 suspected officials and to impose an EU-wide visa ban and asset-freeze on the lot.
The asset freeze is to extend to the alleged culprits’ families.
The move would see the EU “take a coherent and pro-active stance on … serious human rights violations in Russia,” the resolution said.
Speaking after the vote, Ojuland said that imposing the sanctions would “put real pressure on Russian authorities to start taking criticism on human rights seriously” and that the measures would be “a necessary step against corruption and human rights violators.”
Magnitksy was allegedly tortured and beaten to death in Moscow’s Butryka jail in 2009.
He had been arrested 11 months earlier after exposing a multi-million-dollar tax fraud by high-level Kremlin officials and FSB intelligence officers.
The resolution is the third time the EU parliament has called for action in the case.
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EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT TAKES A STANCE AGAINST ABUSE OF POWER IN RUSSIA
The European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee today threw its weight behind the campaign to bring those to account who are responsible for the death of anti-corruption hero Sergei Magnitsky.
The Committee has proposed an EU-wide visa ban and assets freeze for Russian officials involved in Magnitsky’s death, and in its cover-up. The Members of the European Parliament added a call to Russia to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation into this case. The Committee expects the Council to take on a more coeherent human rights policy.
In November 2009, Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky died in prison. He had been held in detention for almost a year, after alleging wide-spread and systematic corruption and theft by government officials. The ensuing outrage at the brutality and injustice of his treatment led to an international campaign to bring those responsible to account.
In 2011 Magnitsky’s mother collected Transparency International’s Integrity Award on his behalf during the 14th International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC). For more details on the case listen to this podcast with Elena Panfilova, Board Member of Transparency International and Director of our Russian Chapter. займ на карту займ на карту https://zp-pdl.com/emergency-payday-loans.php https://zp-pdl.com/emergency-payday-loans.php hairy woman
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Commitment of Russian authorities to basic values remains the main prerequisite of EU-Russia relations: Jacek Protasiewicz MEP
“The commitment of Russian authorities to basic values such as the rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms remains the main prerequisite of EU-Russia relations and for the development of a stable and reliable partnership”, said Jacek Protasiewicz MEP, Vice-President of the European Parliament, commenting on today’s vote of the Foreign Affairs Committee on the Recommendation to the Council on establishing common visa restrictions for Russian officials involved in the Sergei Magnitsky case.
The main aim of this Report is to recommend to the EU Council the introduction of a visa ban and a policy of freezing assets against those responsible for prosecution and murder of Sergei Magnitsky. The Recommendation follows the adoption of the Sergei Magnitsky Law by the Foreign Affairs Committee of the US Senate as well as the adoption of numerous resolutions by several other European countries and international organisations. It has also gathered large support in the Parliament’s Committee.
“The Magnitsky case is one the most obvious and well documented cases of abuse of power and misuse of the judicial system by the Russian law enforcement authorities”, said Jacek Protasiewicz MEP, EPP Group Shadow Rapporteur.
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EU-RUSSIA: “MAGNITSKY ACT” RECEIVES SUPPORT!
MEPs gave green light to the initiative of Kristiina Ojuland for visa restrictions and assets freezing to individuals implicated in death of the Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky. Today Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament voted for a recommendation to the EU Council with a score of 63 -2 – “no”, 1 – “abstention”.
On the eve of a vote Ojuland as a special reporter on the case held a debate with the representatives of differentn political groups in the European Parliament on amendments made.
“Hermitage Capital” Bill Browder, Magnitsky’s former employer, as a special guest of the hearing and an expert on the case called for ‘justice for Sergei’.
“We have all the evidence that Sergei had been beaten on the last night of his life, and he had been tortured before. Nevertheless Among 60 individuals implicated in the affair the only one who was prosecuted was a prison doctor, for not treating Sergei from the sicknesses he never had ” – said Browder.
Meanwhile the “Hermitage Capital” conducted its own investigation and the results were so convincing that the 39 million US doll in the accounts of corrupt officials have been frozen in Swiss banks recently.
“They love to travel and buy property in Europe, – observed Browder. – We must deny them this privilege, if we can’t get justice in Russia’. Since Magnitsky’s death the corrupt officials haven’t changed their luxurious lifestyle, acquiring properties and enjoying the European lifestyle. Moreover, the impunity encourages them to continue to insult the memory of the deceived and intimidate the victim’s relatives seeking justice.
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MEPs call for sanctions against Russian officials involved in the Magnitsky case
The foreign affairs committee called on Thursday for an EU-wide visa ban and assets freeze against Russian officials responsible for the death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, the subsequent judicial cover-up and the harassment of his mother and widow.
In a recommendation adopted by an overwhelming majority, the committee calls on the Council to draw up a list of officials responsible for the death in custody of Magnitsky, to impose EU-wide travel restrictions on them and to freeze their and their families’ financial assets in the EU.
They also call on Russia to conduct a credible and independent investigation encompassing all aspects of this tragic case.
Climate of impunity
The arrest, detention and death in custody of Sergei Magnitsky represent a well-documented and substantial case of disrespect for fundamental human rights, MEPs say, pointing to the stalled investigation of the case and the current climate of impunity in Russia, despite the findings of the Russian President’s Human Rights Council in 2011.
The officials involved have been exonerated and even assigned to the posthumous case, the text underlines.
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Putin’s Choice
Vladimir Putin’s return to the Kremlin as Russia’s president was always a foregone conclusion. But, when he is sworn in on May 7, he will retake formal charge of a country whose politics – even Putin’s own political future – has turned unpredictable.
Putin’s return to the presidency, following a period of de facto control as prime minister, was supposed to signify a reassuring continuation of “business as usual” – a strong, orderly state devoid of the potentially destabilizing effects of multiparty democracy and bickering politicians.
Instead, the Russian people have now challenged the status quo. Their reaction to Putin’s plan – from the announcement last September that President Dmitri Medvedev would stand aside for his mentor, to the deeply flawed parliamentary and presidential elections – and their accumulated resentment of Kremlin cronies’ massive enrichment, has placed pressure on Putin and the top-down system of government that he created.
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