Posts Tagged ‘reuters’
Late lawyer’s mother wants Russia to drop probe
The mother of Sergei Magnitsky, a tax lawyer whose death in detention has become a symbol of broken justice in Russia, says authorities are stonewalling her efforts to stop a posthumous investigation of her son for tax evasion.
The death in 2009 of Magnitsky, a lawyer for British hedge fund Hermitage Capital, spooked foreign investors. Washington has barred entry to dozens of Russian officials it said shared in the guilt for jailing him before his trial in conditions which rights activists said were tantamount to torture.
Two years after his death, Russian prosecutors have reopened a criminal tax fraud case against Natalya Magnitskaya’s son in what she called a violation of her legal rights.
Read More →
Facebook
Twitter
Google Buzz
LinkedIn
del.icio.us
Google Bookmarks
Yahoo! Buzz
Tumblr
StumbleUpon
FriendFeed
NewsVine
Digg
Russia says U.S. visa move won’t affect cooperation
U.S. visa restrictions on Russian officials linked to the death of investment fund lawyer Sergei Magnitsky will not affect cooperation on Iran and Afghanistan, a senior Russian official said on Tuesday.
“Speaking about the information in the U.S. media about an asymmetrical response, a cutback in cooperation over Afghanistan, Iran, the Middle East, then there is nothing more far from reality than such speculations,” Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.
Read More →
- Facebook
- Twitter
- Google Buzz
- LinkedIn
- del.icio.us
- Google Bookmarks
- Yahoo! Buzz
- Tumblr
- StumbleUpon
- FriendFeed
- NewsVine
- Digg
Russia says U.S. visa move won’t affect cooperation
U.S. visa restrictions on Russian officials linked to the death of investment fund lawyer Sergei Magnitsky will not affect cooperation on Iran and Afghanistan, a senior Russian official said on Tuesday.
“Speaking about the information in the U.S. media about an asymmetrical response, a cutback in cooperation over Afghanistan, Iran, the Middle East, then there is nothing more far from reality than such speculations,” Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.
Read More →
- Facebook
- Twitter
- Google Buzz
- LinkedIn
- del.icio.us
- Google Bookmarks
- Yahoo! Buzz
- Tumblr
- StumbleUpon
- FriendFeed
- NewsVine
- Digg
U.S. gets serious on Russian mega-corruption case
One of Russia’s most notorious scandals, the death in prison of hedge fund lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, is taking on an international political dimension. The United States has become the first country to impose a visa ban on Russian officials accused of complicity in the affair, which threatens to sour U.S.-Russia relations. But Russia’s conspicuous failure to investigate this crucial case means the West is right to act.
No case better illustrates the pervasive nature of Russian corruption — and the Kremlin’s woeful failure to tackle it. A lawyer for London-based Hermitage Capital, managed by the well-known investor William Browder, Magnitsky was arrested after he had accused Russian officials of involvement in a $230 million tax fraud. His subsequent death in prison naturally caused a global stink. But the subsequent cover-up was even more shocking and revealing. Russia’s inability to pursue the real culprits seems to indicate that its entire law enforcement system is rotten to the core.
Read More →
- Facebook
- Twitter
- Google Buzz
- LinkedIn
- del.icio.us
- Google Bookmarks
- Yahoo! Buzz
- Tumblr
- StumbleUpon
- FriendFeed
- NewsVine
- Digg
Kremlin rights council hints lawyer case fabricated
The Kremlin human rights council appeared to blame authorities on Tuesday for fabricating a case against anti-graft lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who died in jail.
“People whom Magnitsky had long accused of being involved in a crime were somehow included in the investigative groups … This points to a personal interest in their further course of action,” council member Yelena Panfilova told reporters.
The council rejected claims by Russian investigators who blamed medics on Monday for the death in 2009 of the 37-year-old lawyer after nearly a year in Russian jails. He worked for Russia’s biggest equity fund Hermitage Capital and his death spooked foreign investors and sparked a global outcry.
Read More →
- Facebook
- Twitter
- Google Buzz
- LinkedIn
- del.icio.us
- Google Bookmarks
- Yahoo! Buzz
- Tumblr
- StumbleUpon
- FriendFeed
- NewsVine
- Digg
Russia blames medics for Hermitage lawyer death
Reuters
Russian investigators, probing an affair that has shaken the confidence of foreign investors, said on Monday that poor medical care was to blame for the death in jail of the lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.
Magnitsky, a 37-year-old lawyer for Hermitage Capital, once Russia’s biggest equity fund, died of heart failure in November 2009 after around a year in prison, sparking worldwide outrage.
He had earlier testified against Russian interior ministry officials during a tax evasion case against Hermitage. The hedge fund had accused the officials of embezzling $230 million in tax refunds from the state budget.
Read More →
- Facebook
- Twitter
- Google Buzz
- LinkedIn
- del.icio.us
- Google Bookmarks
- Yahoo! Buzz
- Tumblr
- StumbleUpon
- FriendFeed
- NewsVine
- Digg
Russian ex-tycoon protests outside London forum
A Russian businessman who fled to Britain after losing his assets staged a protest in London on Wednesday to draw attention to the risks of investing in Russia.
Yevgeny Chichvarkin, who co-founded one of Russia’s biggest mobile phone companies, protested outside a state-sponsored Russian investment forum in a T-shirt showing his face above the slogan ‘Russia Calling?’ — a play on the forum’s slogan.
The fate of businessmen who have fallen foul of the Russian authorities and lost their businesses, often on charges of tax evasion or corruption, has tarnished Russia’s reputation among foreign investors.
“They (investors) think that if they agree on something with some of the corrupt officials, their business is secure”, he said. “Investors who bought Yukos shares also thought that, until they earned ‘zero’.”
Read More →
- Facebook
- Twitter
- Google Buzz
- LinkedIn
- del.icio.us
- Google Bookmarks
- Yahoo! Buzz
- Tumblr
- StumbleUpon
- FriendFeed
- NewsVine
- Digg
Russia raps U.S. state dept human rights report
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday that last week’s U.S. State Department report, criticizing Moscow’s human rights record, reflected double standards and was politicized.
“As before, the document has unfortunately become obvious evidence of the use of “double standards” and the politicization of human rights issues by the United States,” the ministry said in a statement posted on its website www.mid.ru.
Read More →
- Facebook
- Twitter
- Google Buzz
- LinkedIn
- del.icio.us
- Google Bookmarks
- Yahoo! Buzz
- Tumblr
- StumbleUpon
- FriendFeed
- NewsVine
- Digg
British PM “concerned” about Russian lawyer death
British Prime Minister David Cameron is “deeply concerned” about the 2009 prison death of a Russian lawyer and has raised the case with Russia’s foreign minister, he said in a letter made public on Wednesday.
Sergei Magnitsky, a 37-year-old lawyer for Russia’s one time biggest equity fund, Hermitage, died in November 2009 after nearly a year in Russian jails.
Colleagues and human rights activists say he was denied adequate medical treatment and subjected to conditions that amounted to torture in a case that has sparked international condemnation and spooked investors.
Read More →
- Facebook
- Twitter
- Google Buzz
- LinkedIn
- del.icio.us
- Google Bookmarks
- Yahoo! Buzz
- Tumblr
- StumbleUpon
- FriendFeed
- NewsVine
- Digg
