MEP who joined Magnitsky group hopes EU draws Russian “black list”

Lithuanian Tribune

MEP Leonidas Donskis has joined an interparliamentary group, members of which maintain they seek justice for lawyer Sergey Magnitsky who died in a Russian prison in 2009 after revealing a financial fraud scheme of Russian authorities.

Donskis, the first Lithuanian representative in the group, told BNS he expected the European Union (EU) to have enough courage to respond to the case to follow the example set by the United States’ to draw a “black list” of Russian officials.

“The Magnitsky case has bared a sensitive problem one cannot remain indifferent to. We’re talking about a lawyer who chose to stand up to corruption, unveiled horrific facts of corruption and sacrificed his life, which is already obvious,” Donskis told BNS on Wednesday.

He said his joining the group was a demonstration of the position of the European Parliament (EP) and Lithuania.

Set up in Canada in December, the group now includes 16 politicians from 12 countries: Canada, Estonia, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Sweden.

Magnitsky died in a Moscow prison in November of 2009. Russian authorities had charged him with tax evasion, however, his colleagues maintain that the case was developed in revenge for his testimony, which said that employees of law-enforcement institutions could be connected with the embezzlement scheme he had exposed.

Magnitsky said that 230 million US dollars had been embezzled from the Russian budget.

In response to the case, the United States worked out “black lists” of individuals linked with Magnitsky’s death. The persons cannot receive visas to the US, their bank accounts in the US have been frozen. Following the move, Russia issued a prohibition for US citizens to adopt Russian orphans.

Donskis said he expected Europe to rally enough political will to draw a “black list” of its own, regardless of strong opposition from Russia.

“We have to do this. The EP reaction must be as strong as that from the US,” the MEP said.

“This is not impossible, this is not a fantasy,” Donskis said when asked whether he thought the EU could decide on the “black move” soon.

Donskis said he expected Russia to “exercise all forms of lobbyism and pressure to attempt mitigating the positions via parliamentarians from Germany, France, Italy or maybe even Britain.” Nevertheless, the Lithuanian MEP said the Berlin determination gave him hope of resolute decisions.

“Germany has resolutely censured the worsening situation of human rights in Russia. The position of (German) Chancellor Angela Merkel is resolute. Therefore, I think it paves way for a strong response from the European Parliament,” Donskis added. unshaven girl займы на карту срочно https://zp-pdl.com/get-a-next-business-day-payday-loan.php zp-pdl.com займы на карту без отказа