The European Parliament Considers Sanctions against Russia for Khodorkovsky

Moskovsky Komsomolets

The idea of sanctions was suggested by a group of parliamentarians headed by Kristina Ojuland of Estonia. “The European Union openly supported Belarussian opposition. Why not the democratic opposition in Russia as well?” said Heidi Hautala of Finland, chair-in-office of the European Parliament’s subcommittee on human rights. “We cannot permit double standards.” President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek called Khodorkovsky’s verdict a “symbol of systemic problems with supremacy of the law, legal nihilism, and human rights in Russia.”

Authors of the idea undeniably recalled sanctions against the Russian officials guilty, in the eyes of the Western community, of the death of Hermitage Capital auditor Sergei Magnitsky in prison. Ojuland had been an active promoter of visa restrictions and economic sanctions against Russian officials then. The European Parliament voted on the matter last December. Apart from the ban to travel to EU countries, the European Parliament asked law enforcement agencies to arrest bank accounts of these Russian officials in foreign countries. The list of Russian state officials compiled by U.S. Senator Benjamin L. Cardin included six dozens representatives of Russian power and security structures.

It is rumored as well that the European Union might reinforce sanctions against Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko and his Cabinet members.

“Will sanctions be introduced? Against whom, if yes? If they affect senior functionaries of the Russian state, it will really be something. Russia is not Belarus, after all,” said Mikhail Barschevsky, Representative of the Government of the Russian Federation in the Constitutional Court, Supreme Court, and Supreme Court of Arbitration, “It depends. Some might call it all interference with Russia’s domestic politics. Others might decide that this is promotion of human rights.” hairy woman займы онлайн на карту срочно https://zp-pdl.com/emergency-payday-loans.php https://zp-pdl.com/online-payday-loans-cash-advances.php payday loan