Sergei Magnitsky: The British Can Do Something

Daily Mail Online

This afternoon, MPs have the chance to debate a motion to introduce visa restrictions and other sanctions against around 60 named Russian officials who are alleged to have been involved in the killing of the lawyer Sergei Magnitsky in November 2009, as well as the criminal scam that inspired this, and the cover-up which followed.

Magnitsky was a young lawyer who discovered the following. The official documents of a firm he represented were stolen during a police raid, and then used to fraudulently re-register the company, which then illicitly claimed a $230 million tax rebate. This was paid out in a record 12 hours one Christmas Eve. The proceeds disappeared through a maze of phoney companies operating in international tax havens.

The policemen who allegedly stole the documents and assisted this fraud against the Russian people were appointed to investigate Magnitsky himself. He was held in successive prisons, in investigative custody, and then beaten to death with rubber truncheons for allegedly being obstructive. He was wearing a straitjacket at the time, and was a very wasted and sick man. Both the policemen and tax officials involved are multimillionaires.

Already, the US Congress and several European parliaments have introduced measures restricting the ability of named Russian officials and policemen to enter their jurisdictions. The British motion is sponsored by MPs from all parties, although the lead signatory is Dominic Raab. David Davis, David Milliband and Jack Straw are among its supporters. It is one thing to decry the obvious brutality and corruption of contemporary Russia, or to focus the attention on Vladimir Putin. Now we in the UK have a small opportunity to do something about it, while countering the widespread impression (not least among the British people) that this country has become a safe haven for all manner of Russian crooks and gangsters. срочный займ на карту buy viagra online https://zp-pdl.com/best-payday-loans.php https://zp-pdl.com/fast-and-easy-payday-loans-online.php микрозаймы онлайн