Posts Tagged ‘windsor square’

11
October 2011

Dutch Call Russian Prosecution “Medieval”

The Windsor Square

In a par­lia­men­tary let­ter sent to Dutch For­eign Min­is­ter, Dutch law­mak­ers urged their gov­ern­ment to impose visa bans on Russ­ian offi­cials in Sergei Mag­nit­sky case. They also requested that the Dutch Min­is­ter dis­cusses joint steps towards Rus­sia in rela­tion to this case at the next meet­ing of the Euro­pean Council.

In their let­ter, Dutch law­mak­ers stressed that in light of the recent events, it is hard to expect that Rus­sia allow a real inves­ti­ga­tion. The let­ter high­lights the fact that the Russ­ian Inte­rior Min­istry had rejected the find­ings of Russ­ian President’s Human Rights Coun­cil which found that Mag­nit­sky was unlaw­fully arrested, beaten before his death, and no one was held liable for this atrocity.

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23
June 2011

Hermitage Moves Criminal Complaint Forward

The Windsor Square

Lawyers act­ing on behalf of Her­mitage Cap­i­tal filed a new crim­i­nal com­plaint today with the Russ­ian State Inves­tiga­tive Com­mit­tee demand­ing the pros­e­cu­tion of offi­cials from Moscow Tax Offices 25 and 28, who had per­pe­trated the theft of US$107 mil­lion through a fraud­u­lent tax refund scheme in 2006.

The com­plaint impli­cates Olga Stepanova, head of Moscow Tax Office 28, and Elena Khim­ina, head of Moscow Tax Office 25. They are the same two offi­cials who a year later approved an iden­ti­cal US$230 mil­lion fraud­u­lent tax refund. After Russ­ian lawyer Sergei Mag­nit­sky exposed the schemes, he was arrested, tor­tured, and killed in Russ­ian police custody.

A Her­mitage Cap­i­tal spokesman said, “This US$107 fraud­u­lent tax refund case has direct rel­e­vance to the case that led the arrest, tor­ture and death in cus­tody of Sergei Mag­nit­sky. If the Russ­ian gov­ern­ment is in any way seri­ous about inves­ti­gat­ing the death of Sergei Mag­nit­sky, or indeed about fight­ing cor­rup­tion and insti­tut­ing the rule of law, they must inves­ti­gate this crime.”

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05
April 2011

Magnitsky Case Highlights Russian Corruption

The Windsor Square

The UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office has named the case of Sergei Magnitsky, a 37-year old Russian anti-corruption lawyer killed in police custody in Moscow, as one of the most serious violations of the rule of law and human rights in Russia in its 2010 “Human Rights and Democracy” Report published last week. The 2010 Report highlights the call by the European Parliament for EU-wide visa and economic sanctions against the Russian officials involved in Magnitsky’s death.

“The investigation into the death in pre-trial detention of Sergei Magnitsky due to inadequate medical treatment had not concluded by the end of 2010. On the anniversary of his death on 16 November, the Prosecutor-General’s Office announced that it was extending the ‘preliminary’ investigation until 24 February 2011. On the same day, the European Parliament passed a resolution calling for sanctions against officials involved in Magnitsky’s death to prevent them from entering the EU, and to freeze their assets,” said the FCO in the 2010 Report.

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