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Magnitsky: Posthumous Trial To Go Ahead
Russia pushes ahead with the posthumous prosecution of whistle-blowing lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who died in a prison cell in 2009.
When the case of the state vs Sergei Magnitsky is called in a Moscow courtroom later, the defendant will not be in the dock – he has been dead for more than three years.
In a case that has been compared to the show trials of Stalin, Russia is pressing ahead with the posthumous prosecution of a whistle-blowing lawyer.
At the time of his death Mr Magnitsky was investigating what he believed was a massive tax fraud – worth around £150m – targeting both the British-based investment fund he was working for and the Russian state.
He went public with his evidence in October 2008, naming several senior police and tax officials, but the next month he was arrested.
The 37-year-old was held without trial for almost a year, during which time he became seriously ill – he lost 40lb and was diagnosed with pancreatitis and gallstones – but despite repeated written requests he was denied medical treatment.
Mr Magnitsky said he felt he was being physically and psychologically pressured to withdraw his testimony, but he refused – instead he documented the conditions he was being held, describing raw sewage overflowing from the toilet in one cell and the sound of rats running along the corridors at night.
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Russia: Magnitsky Retaliation Bill Approved
A controversial law banning Americans from adopting Russian children has won final approval from the parliament in Moscow.
The bill – in retaliation for a US law intended to punish Russian human rights abusers – will now go to President Vladimir Putin for his signature.
Putin has strongly hinted he will sign the bill, which also outlaws some US-funded NGOs and hits back at sanctions by imposing visa bans and asset freezes on Americans accused of violating the rights of Russians.
The Federation Council, Russia’s upper parliament, voted unanimously to approve the bill, which has clouded US-Russian relations and outraged liberals who say lawmakers are playing a political game with the lives of children.
The bill has drawn unusual criticism from some government officials including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Olga Golodets, a deputy prime minister who said it may violate an international convention on children’s rights.
Putin has described it as an emotional but appropriate response to US legislation he said was poisoning relations.
US President Barack Obama this month signed off on the Magnitsky Act, which imposes visa bans and asset freezes on Russians accused of human rights violations, including those linked to the death in custody of a lawyer in 2009.
The ban on American adoptions takes Russia’s response a step further, playing into deep sensitivity among Russians – and the government in particular – over adoptions by foreigners, which skyrocketed after the 1991 Soviet collapse.
The bill is named for Dima Yakovlev – a Russian-born toddler who died of heat stroke when his adoptive American father forgot him in a car.
“It is immoral to send our children abroad to any country,” Federation Council deputy Valery Shtyrov said in a one-sided debate before the 143-0 vote.
Child rights advocates say the law, due to take effect on January 1 if signed by Putin, will deprive children of a way out of Russia’s overcrowded orphanage system.
Opposition activist Boris Nemtsov said: “This is the most vile law passed since Putin came to power. Putin is taking children hostage, like a terrorist”.
Police said they had arrested seven people protesting against the law on Wednesday outside the Federation Council.
Nevertheless, lawmaker Gennady Makin said the Magnitsky Act demanded a tough response. “He who comes to Russia with a sword dies by that sword,” he said.
The dispute adds to tension in US-Russia ties already strained over issues ranging from Syria to the Kremlin’s treatment of opponents and restrictions imposed on civil society groups since Putin, in power since 2000, began a new six-year term in May.
The Russian bill would outlaw US-funded “non-profit organisations that engage in political activity”, which Putin accuses of trying to influence Russian politics.
Russia ejected the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which funds Russian non-governmental groups, in October, and Putin has signed a law forcing many foreign-funded organisations to register as “foreign agents” – a term that evokes the Cold War. займ на карту онлайн unshaven girl https://zp-pdl.com/online-payday-loans-in-america.php https://www.zp-pdl.com займы на карту срочно
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Magnitsky Case: ‘Supergrass’ Drops Dead
A Russian businessman who was helping Swiss authorities investigate a multimillion-pound money laundering scheme in Russia has been found dead outside his Surrey home.
The Swiss prosecutor’s office confirmed 44-year-old Alexander Perepilichnyy had been assisting authorities with their inquiries.
Hermitage Capital was once one of the largest foreign investors in Russia but fell victim to apparent conspiracy by Russian interior ministry officials and tax officers to defraud the Russian tax system.
Corporate seals were taken from Hermitage Capital following a police raid and used apply for a series of tax rebates. The rebates were signed off by courts and tax offices and the money was transferred into a bank which was liquidated shortly afterwards.
The Independent newspaper reported that Mr Perepilichnyy was a key witness against the Klyuev Group, a network of Russian officials and criminals implicated in a series of tax frauds and the death in custody of Sergei Magnitsky, a Moscow lawyer hired by Hermitage.
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Magnitsky: Russia To Quiz UK On Prison Death List
Britain reportedly bans 60 Russians linked to the prison death of an anti-corruption lawyer – and Moscow demands an explanation.
Russia’s ambassador to Britain is expected to demand an explanation from the Foreign Office about reports that the UK has blacklisted Russian officials for their alleged role in the death of anti-corruption lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.
Home Secretary Theresa May has sent a list of 60 Russians, including judges and intelligence officers, to the British embassy in Moscow banning them from entering the UK, according to The Sunday Times.
The Foreign Office has issued a statement saying it does not allow individuals into the UK where there is evidence of human rights abuses.
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The Murky World Of Russian Business Deals
No-one knows the challenges of operating a business in Russia better than Bob Dudley – the CEO of BP who is travelling there alongside David Cameron.
Mr Dudley was kicked out of the country in 2008 after claiming he had been harassed by the Russian government. BP say their Moscow offices were raided illegally only last week.
In his speech at Moscow University, David Cameron said British companies “need to have faith that the State, the judiciary and the police will protect their hard work and not put the obstacles of bureaucracy, regulation and corruption in their way”.
Corruption is endemic in Russian business – so says Bill Browder, of London-based Hermitage Capital.
He says his lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, died an agonising death in a Moscow jail at the hands of the people who arrested him after he uncovered a state-committed fraud worth millions of pounds.
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PM Pursues Litvinenko Murder on Moscow Visit
David Cameron has insisted that Britain will not give up on bringing the killer of ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko to justice, as he kicked off his visit to Russia.
But the Prime Minister said the two governments had to end the “tit-for-tat culture” and work together despite festering tensions over the dissident’s murder.
It is the first visit by a British leader since the murder of Mr Litvinenko in London in 2006.
The poisoning of the Kremlin critic caused relations between the two countries to hit a post-Cold War low.
The wider aim of David Cameron’s visit is to increase trade and improve his relationship with the country’s president, Dmitry Medvedev, and Prime Minister Putin.
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