Posts Tagged ‘Schengen’
EU considers visa-ban-lite on Russian officials
The European Commission is considering a ban on visa-free travel for Russian officials linked to the alleged murder of Sergei Magnitsky.
Under the terms of a visa facilitation deal currently being discussed by Brussels and Moscow, Russian officials, who carry so called “service” passports, will no longer have to apply for visas to enter the EU’s borderless Schengen zone.
The perk is due to cover dozens of people accused of involvement in a 2008 plot to embezzle millions of euros from the Russian treasury and to kill the man who found them out – Magnitsky, a 37-year-old accountant and father of two.
US authorities found the evidence against them compelling enough to ban them from visiting the states altogether.
In Brussels, MEPs have called for a similar EU travel ban.
But Russia says they are innocent, while the European External Action Service is happy to let Moscow treat the case as an internal matter.
For their part, a group of 48 euro deputies rebelled against the situation on Tuesday (4 June).
The parliamentarians – which include senior figures from major political groups, such as German centre-right MEP Elmar Brok and Belgian Liberal Guy Verhofstadt – said in a letter to EU countries’ foreign ministers that parliament will veto the visa facilitation deal unless diplomats act.
“Under current circumstances we will be unable to support any visa facilitation agreements with Russia and will advocate the parliament to refuse its consent, unless the [EU] Council adopts an EU ‘Magnitsky Law’,” they said, by reference to the US legal ban.
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Germany considering EU visa ban on Russian officials
The German government is considering the merits of an EU visa ban on Russian officials implicated in the murder of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.
Markus Loning, the German foreign ministry’s commissioner for human rights, told EUobserver on the margins of a conference on Russia in Helsinki on Thursday (10 November): “We’re discussing it. It is an option that my office is bringing to the table, into the debate. I can’t say I have completely convinced the rest of the government, but it is something I am putting on the table again and again.”
One option is to seek agreement by all 27 EU countries to blacklist the officials. Germany could also unilaterally red-flag the names in the passport-free Schengen system, forcing all 25 Schengen members to keep them out.
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Former ambassador to Russia demands UK act on Magnitsky death
Britain’s former Ambassador to Russia has attacked the Government for failing to crack down on a group of Russian officials allegedly linked to the death of the anti-corruption lawyer Sergei Magnitsky and implicated in a $230m (£140m) alleged fraud.
In a letter to The Daily Telegraph today, Sir Tony Brenton, Ambassador to Russia from 2004 to 2008, urges the UK authorities to make “publicly clear their abhorrence at what has happened” and to ban those concerned from entry into the UK.
His comments follow a unanimous vote in the Dutch Parliament for the 60 Russian officials identified by UK-based hedge fund Hermitage Capital Management and law firm Jamison Firestone, for which Mr Magnitsky worked, to be barred entry into the country.
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Some EU countries ready to impose sanctions on Russian officials who could be involved in Magnitsky case
Interfax
Some EU countries are considering introducing sanctions on Russian officials who could be responsible for the death of Hermitage Foundation lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.
“The foreign ministers of some EU countries are ready to take practical measures and decisions in this area,” European Parliamentarian Heidi Hautala told a press conference at the Interfax central office on Monday.
The statement on the possible sanctions made in the European parliament became a powerful signal to the entire EU to take decisive measures, she said.
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UN Launches Investigation Into Russian Lawyer’s Prison Death
The United Nations has launched an investigation into the death of Russian anticorruption lawyer Sergei Magnitsky under what have been described as torturous pretrial jail conditions.
According to a statement released by Hermitage Capital Management, the investment advisory firm that Magnitsky represented, the UN special rapporteurs on extrajudicial executions, the independence of lawyers and judges, and torture have initiated an “unprecedented investigation” into the circumstances surrounding Magnitsky’s death in late 2009.
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Nemtsov called on the EU to impose sanctions against Vladimir Putin
Leaders of Russian “non-systemic” opposition vowed to pursue the introduction of sanctions by Western countries against the concrete of the ruling circles, including Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Deputy Head of Presidential Administration Vladislav Surkov.
The European Parliament is discussing possible sanctions against Russian officials implicated in the death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky and “the Khodorkovsky case, but while it was Putin and Surkov lists, according to unofficial data, there is, and the prospects of introducing sanctions themselves fairly vague.
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EU backs freeze on Russian assets for prison death
The European Parliament urged EU governments Thursday to freeze the assets of Russian officials involved in the death in prison of a corporate lawyer, and pressed Russia to do more to punish those who commit crimes against Kremlin critics.
The parliament also encouraged European Union states to ban visas for the officials but, after Russian lobbying in recent days, softened the language of the resolution focusing on the death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.
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Canada Mulls Ban on Magnitsky Foes
The Moscow Times
10 November 2010, Sixty Russian officials linked to the pretrial death of Hermitage Capital lawyer Sergei Magnitsky may be banned from visiting Canada and face financial sanctions in the country, Magnitsky’s supporters said Tuesday.
The Canadian parliament’s international human rights subcommittee discussed the move at a hearing attended by Hermitage head William Browder last week, said a statement published on the “Law and Order in Russia” blog, which is maintained by Magnitsky’s supporters.
The United States, Britain and Poland are currently considering similar bills, with the Polish legislation capable of closing the whole Schengen zone to the blacklisted officials, among whom are investigators and prosecutors who kept Magnitsky in jail for 11 months until his death in November 2009.
Magnitsky, arrested on tax charges, died of health problems, but his supporters said he was intentionally denied medical help and the case against him was fabricated by corrupt officials whom he had accused of tax fraud. займ на карту без отказов круглосуточно hairy woman https://zp-pdl.com https://zp-pdl.com/best-payday-loans.php займ онлайн на карту без отказа
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