Stop the Untouchables. Justice for Sergei Magnitsky.

Russia promises ‘harsh’ response over progress of Sergei Magnitsky bill

The Guardian

Miriam Elder in Moscow. Wednesday 27 June 2012

Reprisals threatened over Senate committee’s approval of law designed to close borders to officials linked to death of lawyer

Russia has condemned a US Senate committee’s approval of a bill that would ban officials accused of human rights abuses from entering the United States.

On Tuesday, the Senate’s foreign relations committee unanimously passed a bill named after Sergei Magnitsky, a young lawyer who died in jail in 2009 after uncovering an alleged corruption scheme involving Russian tax officials and police. His arrest and subsequent death are widely seen as symbolising the absence of rule of law inside Russia.

Sergei Ryabkov, Russia’s deputy foreign minister, called the committee’s decision “counterproductive”. Russia’s response would be “harsh” and “not necessarily symmetrical”, he told state television on Wednesday.