Posts Tagged ‘nuland’
U.S. State Department Mulls Extending Magnitsky List
The U.S. State Department is considering adding more Russian officials to the U.S. “Magnitsky list” after a Moscow court found late lawyer Sergei Magnitsky and former Hermitage Fund chief William Browder guilty of tax evasion, but Russia’s Foreign Ministry has warned of a harsh response.
Former State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland on Friday called the ruling “a parody of justice” and said the possibility of adding new names to the list was being looked into, Interfax reported.
Nuland made her statement in response to a question from Senator John McCain in which he slammed the verdict handed down by the Tverskoi District Court on Thursday.
The court found that Magnitsky and Browder fraudulently stole more than $15 million in budget funds by way of an illegal tax break scheme using two of Hermitage Capital’s subsidiaries in the Kalmykia republic, Dalnaya Step and Saturn Investments between 1997 and 2002.
Browder, a British citizen, was tried in absentia on tax evasion charges as the British government refused to extradite him.
The State Department’s current spokesperson, Jen Psaki, said at a briefing Thursday that Washington was disappointed with Thursday’s “unprecedented ruling” against Magnitsky and that the trial had discredited attempts to bring the case to justice.
Magnitsky was imprisoned on tax evasion charges in 2008 soon after accusing officials of stealing $230 million in state funds, and he died in prison a year later. His imprisonment and death prompted an international outcry as many believed he had been falsely charged for the very same crime he discovered had been committed by officials.
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Vanik and Magnitsky vs. Mother Russia
The Senate of the U.S. Congress is ready to adopt a bill to abolish the Jackson-Vanik Amendment by early August. However, the abolition of the amendment is linked to the adoption of the law on sanctions against Russian nationals allegedly involved in the violation of human rights. This is the so-called “Magnitsky list” authored by Senator Benjamin Cardin.
“I support this position and I guarantee that these two important draft laws (on trade with Russia and the “Magnitsky list “) can be linked together, will be discussed by the (financial) Committee and adopted by the Senate this year, possibly before the recess in August,” said on Tuesday head of the Senate Finance Committee Max Baukus. He emphasized that he intended to achieve the acceptance of such a bill as quickly as possible.
Judging by the statements made by the U.S. State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland, the U.S. administration did not object to adopting the new bill. On the one hand, there is interest in lifting Jackson-Vanik amendment. This has more reasons than its archaism. The Obama administration believes that the amendment causes obstacles for the American businessmen first of all.
Victoria Nuland made a statement in this regard. According to her, in the case of any issues American businesses will not be able to bill Russia under the WTO rules while this legislation (i.e., amendment) is in place because they would not meet the requirements.
As for the “Magnitsky list”, until recently the U.S. administration was against linking it to the abolition of the Jackson-Vanik amendment. Moreover, last year the State Department tried to be proactive, making a list of the Russians who are banned from entering the U.S. territory. However, the names were not named (as opposed to the list of Cardin). The only thing that Washington has achieved was a counter-list from Russia.
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Moscow Warns West Against Interfering in Magnitsky Case
Russia considers it unacceptable for other countries to interfere in its domestic court trial over the late Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky charged with tax evasion, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Monday.
Magnitsky, an anti-corruption lawyer who worked with the Hermitage Capital investment fund, died in Moscow’s infamous Matrosskaya Tishina pretrial detention center in November 2009, a year after he was arrested on tax evasion charges. Although he is dead, Russian prosecutors reopened the case against him earlier this year.
“The situation when ‘the Magnitsky case’ is used for political speculations and initiatives on some kind of sanctions in regard to Russia is unacceptable for us,” the ministry said in a statement.
The U.S. Department of State issued visa bans for several dozen Russian officials in connection to the Magnitsky case in July 2011. In response, Russia has also imposed travel bans on several U.S. officials.
“We hope that our foreign partners will draw correct conclusions and will abstain from actions or statements that could influence the result of the case over Magnitsky,” the statement said.
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US Congress tries to replace Jackson-Vanik with anti-Russian legislation – FM
Russia is strongly against U.S. Congress’ attempts to replace the Jackson-Vanik amendment with new “anti-Russian legislation” in the form of the so-called Magnitsky Act that claims to protect human rights and democracy in Russia, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
He warned that the approval by the U.S. Congress of unilateral punitive measures against the persons purportedly responsible for Sergei Magnitsky’s death “will cause serious damage to bilateral relations”.
Lavrov stressed that the Russian leadership pays the closest attention to the investigation of Magnitsky’s death.
“This issue must not be politicised,” he added.
An informed source in Congress told Itar-Tass that the congressmen are not very eager to cancel the Jackson-Vanik amendment because of disagreements with Moscow over Syria and other issues, including human rights.
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