Posts Tagged ‘ojuland’
EU Lawmakers Expand Effort to Sanction Russian Rights Abusers
As the US administration readies its first annual report to Congress on the implementation of the Magnitsky Act, the law imposing visa and financial sanctions on Russian human rights abusers, European legislators are preparing a strategy to move forward with their own sanctions package. Last week, the European Parliament hosted the first meeting of the Justice for Sergei Magnitsky Inter-Parliamentary Group, which brings together lawmakers from 13 countries (11 of them from the European Union) and an advisory board that includes representatives from Russia (among them, the author of this blog). The aim of the new coalition is to coordinate between the national parliaments and the European Parliament on the best way to move forward with barring Russian officials implicated in corruption and human rights violations from visiting and stowing their assets in EU member states and Canada.
The Magnitsky Act, passed by the US Congress last year with vast bipartisan majorities (365 to 43 in the House; 92 to 4 in the Senate), was, despite Kremlin assertions to the country, the most pro-Russian law ever adopted in a foreign country. With corruption and political repression being the founding pillars of Russia’s current regime, and with no independent judiciary to protect Russian citizens from abuse, external individual sanctions on those who commit these offenses are the only way to end the impunity. According to a Levada Center poll, 44 percent of Russians support US and EU visa bans on officials who engage in human rights violations, with only 21 percent opposing, and this despite constant attempts by the Putin regime to present individual sanctions against crooks and abusers as “sanctions against Russia”—an insulting equivalence for the country. Leading Russian opposition figures and human rights activists are publicly supporting the Magnitsky sanctions; many of their testimonies have been included in a new book edited by Elena Servettaz, Why Europe Needs a Magnitsky Law, which was presented in European capitals and Washington DC.
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ALDE Organizing high-level seminar on Russia
EURO MEDIA LTD: ALDE Organizing high-level seminar on Russia . Processed and transmitted by Thomson Reuters ONE. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. On Wednesday, 05 June, the ALDE Group in the EP is organizing a high-level seminar entitled “Russian Political Prisoners”, which seeks to increase attention to the political prisoners in Russia and find solutions on how to help those people.
“The EU can’t overlook its own values and principles while building relations with Russia. There are major problems and these need to be urgently attended to. Russia needs to start fulfilling its international obligations in the Council of Europe and the OSCE” – said MEP Ojuland ahead of the event.
“Instead of long awaited liberation of the political prisoner number one – Mikhail Khodorkovsky, we observe the persecutions of activists and citizens for practicing their constitutional rights. At the moment the “Bolotnaya” and “Pussy Riot” cases have our increased attention, but unfortunately there are many others in Russia who face the same repression” – continued Ojuland.
“Impunity of the gross human rights violators stays as a central problem in cases of living and fallen victims of Putin’s regime as it has happened in Magnitsky’s case”. Among the distinguished participants is the president of the ALDE Group in the EP, former PM of Belgium Guy Verhofstadt; the political leader of the People’s Democratic Union (PDU), former PM of Russia Mikhail Kasyanov; nominee to Nobel Peace Prize, chair of Moscow Helsinki Group Lyudmila Alekseeva; the president of the Institute of Modern Russia Pavel Khodorkovsky; the leader of Sergey Magnitsky Global campaign Bill Browder.
Media Contact Details Mr. Karl Koort Tel: +32 2 28 47583 , email at karl.koort@ep.europa.eu Copyright Thomson Reuters This press release is distributed by Thomson Reuters. The issuer is responisble for the content. [HUG#1706896] unshaven girl займ на карту срочно без отказа https://zp-pdl.com/get-quick-online-payday-loan-now.php https://zp-pdl.com/emergency-payday-loans.php займ онлайн
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EU must take a firm stand against Russian blackmail
Reacting to news that the Russian Ambassador to Ireland has written to Irish Members of Parliament threatening to block a treaty on Irish adoptions of Russian children unless Irish parliamentarians drop a Russian-critical human rights resolution, Guy Verhofstadt, ALDE leader reacted in strong terms:
Reacting to news that the Russian Ambassador to Ireland has written to Irish Members of Parliament threatening to block a treaty on Irish adoptions of Russian children unless Irish parliamentarians drop a Russian-critical human rights resolution, Guy Verhofstadt, ALDE leader reacted in strong terms:
“Russian foreign policy once again is showing its ugly face. Blackmailing used by the Russian authorities against Ireland is unacceptable and must be met by a solid and united EU stand. The letter that the Irish Parliament received from the Russian Embassy, threatens that the passing of the Magnitsky legislation in the Dail will lead to a ban on Irish adoption of Russian children. We cannot succumb to pressure.
The European Council should not shy away from its responsibility in agreeing to an EU wide Magnitsky visa ban list. It is now also essential to have the case of Sergey Magnitsky placed on the agenda of the forthcoming EU-Russia Summit. I call on the Council and Commission Presidents and High Representative to clearly state their solidarity with the Irish Presidency in Office.”
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Kristiina Ojuland: EU Should Prioritse Magnitsky
No progress should be made on granting Russian officials visa-free travel to the European Union without legislation to ban individuals who conspired to torture and kill lawyer Sergei Magnitsky from entering the EU, according to Kristiina Ojuland, member of the European Parliament from Estonia.
Ms Ojuland, spokeswoman on Russia for the ALDE (liberal) group in the European Parliament, made her comments as members of the European Commission travelled to Moscow for biennial policy consultations — which this time are expected to focus on relaxing visa restrictions for Russian officials.
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Push For Magnitsky Sanctions Intensifies In Europe
The battle over the Sergei Magnitsky case is moving to Europe. After being lobbied by activists for nearly three years, the U.S. Congress passed legislation in late 2012 to sanction Russian officials implicated in the prosecution and death of Magnitsky, a whistle-blowing Moscow lawyer who died in pretrial detention. The case has come to symbolize Russia’s perceived rights failings.
The U.S. law, which provides for asset freezes and visa bans on Russian officials who violate human rights, was never meant to be an end in itself. Instead, the legislation was a stepping stone to passing something similar in the European Union.
And that effort is now gaining momentum.
“Russians consider themselves, really, like a part of Europe — Europeans,” says Kristiina Ojuland, a member of the European Parliament from Estonia who has spearheaded the push. “And therefore it’s significant that Europe reacts, not only [to] the Magnitsky case, but in broader terms, reacts against this corrupt, black money that is flying into the EU countries.”
Asset freezes and visa bans in Europe would hit Russian officials considerably harder than similar sanctions in the United States. As Ojuland notes, Russian officials are fond of vacationing, shopping, and educating their children in EU countries. They are also more likely to keep money in European banks.
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Vlad the Violator
The United States and other Western nations should be doing more to respond to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s human rights violations, members of Congress and foreign policy experts said Monday during a United States-Russia relations event hosted by the Foreign Policy Initiative, Freedom House, and the Institute of Modern Russia.
Rep. James McGovern (D., Mass.) said the current trial of dead Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky represents a “malevolent move” that makes “it clear that Russian leaders recognize that they no longer have the support of the people they govern, and so they must resort to scare tactics to try and keep the lid on dissent.”
Magnitsky was killed while in a Moscow detention center in November 2009 after being imprisoned by Russian authorities. He claimed to have uncovered massive tax fraud that involved Russian government officials.
The Senate passed in December 2012 the Magnitsky Act, which applies visa sanctions to Russians who are believed to be engaged in human rights violations.
Senator Ben Cardin (D., Md.), who sponsored the Magnitsky Act, said the “objective is not to ban Russians from visiting the United States or using our banking system.”
“The objective is to get Russia to do what is right for its citizens,” he said.
The Russian government, led by President Putin, recently banned Russian children from being adopted by American parents in response to the Magnitsky Act.
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EU Lawmakers Call For Sanctions On Russians Involved In Magnitsky Case
The European Parliament has overwhelmingly approved a proposal recommending common visa-restriction regimes and asset freezes to target Russian officials involved in the death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.
It’s the second time such a resolution has come from Europarliamentarians, with EU members balking at a similar effort two years ago.
In addition to the measures by EU member states, the latest proposal calls on Russia “to conduct a credible and independent investigation encompassing all aspects of the case” and to stop widespread corruption by reforming the judicial system.
The text urges the EU to raise those issues in bilateral meetings with Russia authorities “in a more determined, resolute and result-oriented manner.”
Sergei Magnitsky, a Moscow attorney, was allegedly tortured and beaten to death following nearly a year of pretrial custody in 2009 after uncovering alleged massive fraud by Russian authorities.
The European Parliament passed a similar resolution in 2010, but EU member states have stopped short of endorsing an EU-wide sanctions regime.
Magnitsky’s mother, Natalia Magnitskaya, testified on October 2 at the trial of the sole defendant in the case — Dmitry Kratov, a former deputy warden at Moscow’s Butyrka detention center who is charged with negligence leading to the lawyer’s death. She has urged a further investigation and said other individuals must be held accountable for her son’s killing.
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Magnitski Sanctions: “a strong political signal against corruption and impunity”
European Parliament adopted last week “Sanctions Magnitski” to send a strong political signal against corruption and impunity in Russia. Stephanie Brancaforte from Avaaz explains the aim of this action.
The New Federalist: Could you remind us what about is the vote on “Magnitsky Sanctions” in committee in the European Parliament this week?
Stephanie Brancaforte: The so-called Magnitsky sanctions target Russian officials involved in the death of the international lawyer Sergei Magnitsky. MEP Kristiina Ojuland submitted a proposal for the EU governments to make a list of about 60 suspected officials and to impose an EU-wide visa ban and asset-freeze on the lot. The EP Foreign Affairs Committee – to whom Avaaz delivered its campaign last week – adopted this proposal by 62 votes against two last week.
Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer, died in November 2009 after being held for 358 days in a pre-trial detention centre. He had been arrested himself after alleging systematic and large-scale corruption and theft from the Russian government sanctioned by officials. Though suffering from serious ill health, he was refused adequate medical treatment and died eight days before he would have had to be released or brought to trial.
TNF: Is it so important that Europe take a political action on this subject?
Stephanie Brancaforte: The death of Sergei Magnitsky is part of a pattern of government injustice and manipulation of the judiciary in Russia. More recently, the condemnation of Pussy Riot focused world attention on the tightening repression in Russia:clamping down on public protest, electoral fraud, media intimidation, banning gay rights parades for 100 years, and detaining and beating opposition leaders like chess champion Garry Kasparov.
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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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