Posts Tagged ‘radio liberty’
Interpol Said To Eye New Russian Bid For Browder’s Arrest
Britain-based businessman William Browder says the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) will revisit Russia’s request for his arrest on charges linked to whistleblower Sergei Magnitsky, who died in a Moscow jail five years ago this week.
Interpol informed Browder that it will consider the request during a November 20-21 meeting at the organization’s headquarters in Lyon, France, he told RFE/RL.
Interpol has twice rejected earlier Russian requests for a so-called “red notice” against Browder, citing Russia’s “political” goals in the matter.
Russian prosecutors said in June that Interpol had decided to reconsider Russia’s request.
Interpol could not immediately be reached for comment.
Browder has led a global campaign for sanctions against Russian officials implicated in Magnitsky’s death on November 16, 2009.
A Russian court convicted Browder in absentia and Magnitsky posthumously on tax evasion charges last year, decisions slammed by Western governments and rights groups.
Browder told RFE/RL that the basis for Russia’s new push for an Interpol warrant against him is linked to Magnitsky’s posthumous trial, which he called “one of the most scandalous legal proceedings in legal history.”
“It’s surprising that Russia would have the nerve to use this as a basis to have me arrested, and it’s even more surprising that Interpol would even entertain this discussion,” Browder said.
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Putin Promotes Judge Who Posthumously Convicted Magnitsky
Russian President Vladimir Putin has promoted a judge who presided over the landmark trial and conviction of whistle-blower Sergei Magnitsky after Magnistky died in police custody.
Hermitage Capital, the investment fund that employed Magnitsky, released information on October 25 from the Kremlin website showing Judge Igor Alisov was promoted from the Tverskoi district court to the Moscow City Court.
The August 29 decree promoting Alisov came just one month after Alisov became the first person in Russia to preside over the trial of a dead man.
“This looks like Judge Alisov’s payback for selling his soul to Vladimir Putin,” Hermitage Capital said in a statement.
Magnitsky, a lawyer for Hermitage Capital, died under torturous jail conditions in 2009 after exposing a massive scheme by Russian officials to defraud the government.
Judge Alisov also exonerated all the officials Magnitsky implicated in embezzling $230 million.
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Could U.S. Assets Seizure Lead To Expansion Of Magnitsky Blacklist?
As shady Russian businessmen snapped up luxury apartments in New York City, lawyer Sergei Magnitsky was confined to the few square meters of a Moscow jail cell. He would die there under suspicious circumstances in 2009 after revealing a scheme by government officials and associates to steal $230 million from the Russian treasury. U.S. prosecutors say the proceeds of that heist paid for the Manhattan properties.
A complaint filed by the U.S. Department of Justice on September 10 seeks the seizure of the four Wall Street-area apartments as well as two commercial spaces. It also details the twists and turns of the fraud scheme. If approved, the seizure would be the first such move in a case that has already seen bank accounts frozen in several European countries.
But perhaps more significantly, at least for U.S.-Russian relations, the complaint names alleged beneficiaries of the fraud that are not included on the “Magnitsky list,” a U.S. blacklist of Russian officials implicated in the case. It appears, then, to offer a potent argument for those members of the U.S. Congress seeking to expand the list and push back against any hesitation by the administration of President Barack Obama over harm that might cause to ties with Moscow.
Informed congressional sources told RFE/RL that the naming of names in the complaint had “been noted” and could be used to push the administration ahead of an upcoming deadline.
The U.S. legislation establishing travel and financial sanctions in the Magnitsky case requires that the State and Treasury departments add more names to the blacklist “as new information becomes available.” The Obama administration must add names to the list by a December 14 congressional reporting deadline or justify why it hasn’t done so.
The first version of the list, published in April, implicated 16 individuals in connection with the case (plus another two implicated in other crimes). Some U.S. lawmakers had expressed disappointment that more names had not been included. It was enough, however, to elicit rage — and a retaliatory blacklist — from Moscow.
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U.S. Seeks Seizure Of Real Estate Connected To Magnitsky Fraud Scheme
U.S. authorities have moved to seize millions of dollars’ worth of Manhattan real estate in what would be the first asset seizure connected to the tax fraud scheme uncovered by Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.
A complaint filed on September 10 by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York said Cyprus-based real estate corporation Prevezon Holdings, owned by Russian Denis Katsyv, was one of the companies that benefited from an elaborate scheme to steal $230 million from Russian state coffers that was later revealed by Magnitsky.
The company and its eight subsidiaries laundered some of the money through the purchase of four luxury condominiums and two commercial spaces in Manhattan, the complaint alleges.
Katsyv has previously said he is innocent of any involvement in the fraud scheme.
The complaint also seeks to seize the assets of two “related companies.”
Magnitsky died in 2009 in pre-trial detention after being repeatedly denied medical care. Supporters say his death was punishment for his whistleblowing.
His case provoked an international outcry and has led to passage of the Magnitsky Act in the United States, which sanctions officials implicated in the lawyer’s case and in other perceived gross human rights violations.
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Garry Kasparov: Out Of The Country, But Not Out Of The Picture
Garry Kasparov may be staying away from his homeland for a while, but he has no intention of steering clear of Russian politics.
The chess grandmaster turned opposition figure does not mince his words when he speaks of what he calls the “Hitleresque essence” of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime.
“These days, judges rubber-stamp sentences,” he told RFE/RL’s Russian Service by telephone from New York. “Police commanders give the order to beat and hound people, to arrest them. Governors in the regions can do whatever they like and act like all-powerful lords in their domains.”
In one of his first interviews since announcing last week that he “will refrain from returning” to Russia “for the time being” for fear of a politically motivated prosecution, Kasparov said that he is focusing his efforts on trying to get European countries to adopt sanctions against senior Russian officials implicated in human-rights abuses – similar to the so-called Magnitsky list adopted by the United States in 2012.
The U.S. law is named after whistle-blowing Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who died in custody in 2009 after exposing a massive tax fraud that implicated Russian officials.
According to Kasparov, such sanctions are effective at capturing the attention of Russia’s ruling elite.
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Magnitsky Partner Faces Charges In Gazprom Stock Case
Russian authorities say they are preparing to bring new charges against William Browder, the U.S.-born former employer of the late Russian anticorruption lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.
The Interior Ministry on March 5 said Browder, the founder of the Hermitage Capital investment fund, is accused of illegally purchasing $3 billion in shares in Russia’s state-controlled company Gazprom.
Browder has campaigned for the prosecution of those responsible for the death of Magnitsky, who died in pretrial detention after accusing Russian officials of fraud.
“They can sort of whip themselves up into a crazy frenzy of misuse of their own justice system, but it really has no impact on our campaign,” Browder told RFE/RL’s Russian Service after the announcement. “They killed Sergei Magnitsky, they tortured him to death. We’re going to get justice for Sergei Magnitsy. And the more of this crazy stuff they do, the more obvious it becomes that there is a criminal regime going on in Russia who are basically doing everything they can to cover up the murder, and we’re not going to let them cover it up.”
The announcement of the new charges against Browder came one day after a Russian court announced on March 4 that an unprecedented posthumous trial against Magnitsky for tax evasion will start on March 11.
Browder is a co-defendant in the trial and will be tried in absentia.
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Obama Signs Russia, Moldova Trade Bill And Magnitsky Sanctions Into Law
U.S. President Barack Obama has signed into law legislation that grants permanent normal trade relations to Russia and Moldova while also paving the way for sanctions against Russian officials implicated in the death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.
“I think the legislation is important legislation — all of it — and the president was happy to sign it,” White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters after the bill was signed on December 14. “He believes it’s an important step forward in our relationship with Russia.”
By permanently exempting Moscow from trade barriers imposed by the Cold-War-era Jackson-Vanik Amendment, the United States will look to benefit from increased commerce with Russia afforded by its August entry into the World Trade Organization.
The attached Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act mandates the president to publicly name Russian officials that he determines are responsible for the death of the Russian whistleblower. The officials will then be subject to U.S. visa bans or visa revocations as well as asset freezes.
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U.S. Senate Lifts Russia, Moldova Trade Barriers; Passes Magnitsky Sanctions
The U.S. Senate has voted to permanently lift Cold War-era barriers to trade with Russia, a move long sought by Moscow that could increase commerce between the countries by billions of dollars.
In the same vote, senators also voted to sanction Russian officials implicated in the death of anticorruption lawyer Sergei Magnitsky and in other perceived gross rights violations in Russia.
Moscow has railed against that move, which has overshadowed the trade benefits to come.
The Senate’s 92-4 vote follows the passing of the bill in the U.S. House of Representatives in November. U.S. President Barack Obama is now expected to sign it into law.
When he does, Moscow will be exempted from the 1974 Jackson-Vanik Amendment, which imposed trade restrictions on the Soviet Union for its policy of limiting Jewish emigration. The restrictions have been waived for nearly two decades, but remained on the books as a symbol of U.S. objections to Russia’s human rights record.
Citing the weak U.S. economy, the White House had pushed Congress to lift the restrictions and grant Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) status to Russia, the world’s seventh largest economy.
The move allows the United States to take full advantage of Moscow’s August entry into the World Trade Organization, which China and Europe have already benefited from.
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U.S. Senate To Vote On Key Russian Trade Bill
The U.S. Senate is scheduled to vote later on December 6 on legislation that would end Cold War-era restrictions on trade with Russia and Moldova but also impose sanctions on alleged human rights violators in Russia.
Last month, the House of Representatives approved the legislation, which grants “permanent normal trade relations” to Moscow. That would allow U.S. companies to take advantage of the benefits from Russia’s entry into the World Trade Organization in August.
But the legislation also requires the United States to freeze assets and deny visas to Russian officials implicated in the death of anticorruption lawyer Sergei Magnitsky and in other perceived gross violations of human rights.
Magnitsky died in torturous prison conditions in 2009 after exposing a massive fraud scheme.
On the eve of the vote, senators debated the bill.
Many argued that passage of the Magnitsky Act would provide the United States with a powerful tool to advance human rights in Russia.
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