After Russian Death, Inquiry Doors Open and Shut
The New York Times
by Ellen Barry
It was more than a year ago when six members of an obscure oversight panel filed into Butyrskaya Prison to look into the death of a prisoner. They were hardly an intimidating bunch: retired women in hats, mostly, scribbling their observations in notebooks, regarded by the prison staff as a minor irritant, like fleas.
In a country whose law enforcement structures wield enormous power, it is easy enough to ignore civilian watchdog groups. But this day was different. When the doctors were led in and told to take a seat, the panel’s leader, a veteran human rights activist named Valery V. Borshchev, felt something unfamiliar in the air.
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Sergei Magnitsky: European Parliament recommends tough sanctions on Russian officials
The European Parliament has recommended hard-hitting sanctions be taken against 60 Russian officials accused of involvement or dereliction of duty in the death of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky. In a vote that caused friction with Moscow, the parliament backed a resolution that opens the door for EU member states, including Britain, to introduce a visa ban and freeze the bank accounts of the officials.
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EU Backs Sanctions Against Officials
The St Petersburg Times
The European Parliament urged EU governments Thursday to freeze the assets of Russian officials involved in the prison death of Hermitage Capital lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, and pressed the Russian government to do more to punish those who commit crimes against Kremlin critics.
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The Concealed Battle to Run Russia
The New York Review of Books
by Amy Knight
Despite their professed mutual respect, Russia’s president, Dmitry Medvedev, and his prime minister, Vladimir Putin, apparently cannot agree on one question—which of them will be running for the Russian presidency in March 2012. Over a year ago Putin told foreign journalists that he and Medvedev would at some point “sit down and come to an agreement” about who would be the presidential nominee of United Russia, the overwhelmingly pro-Kremlin party, in the next election. (He repeated the same promise in a recent interview with Larry King on CNN.) But that moment has yet to come, and in the meantime, both men are provoking speculation about their possible candidacies.
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EU backs freeze on Russian assets for prison death
The European Parliament urged EU governments Thursday to freeze the assets of Russian officials involved in the death in prison of a corporate lawyer, and pressed Russia to do more to punish those who commit crimes against Kremlin critics.
The parliament also encouraged European Union states to ban visas for the officials but, after Russian lobbying in recent days, softened the language of the resolution focusing on the death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.
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Accusations fly in EU vote on Russian travel ban
A u-turn by centre-right and centre-left MEPs on whether to seek an EU visa ban on Russian officials linked to the death of lawyer Sergey Magnitsky has prompted accusations about Russian lobbying in the EU parliament.
Deputies in the foreign affairs committee in November endorsed a report on EU human rights policy containing the controversial Magnitsky clause by a crushing majority of 50 votes against nil with two abstentions.
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Russia needs rule of law
The EU’s partnership with Russia must rest on those areas where values are shared and applied.
On 2 December, European Voice published an opinion piece on EU-Russia relations that ended with the statement that “law is Russia’s bridge to Europe” (“A simpler era in EU-Russia relations?”, 2-8 December). We could not agree more. EU-Russia relations are at a critical stage and we welcome the prospect of closer co-operation on an equal footing. But the lack of rule of law in Russia, or “legal nihilism” as President Dmitry Medvedev has called it, still poses an obstacle to meaningful and long-term economic and political co-operation.
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Legal proceedings test whether Russia will move closer to West
Two separate legal proceedings this week are freighted with significance for Russia, helping determine whether the country will move closer to the West or remain an arm’s-length acquaintance, widely regarded with suspicion.
The second trial of former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky resumes in Moscow on Wednesday, with the judge expected to begin rendering his verdict, a process that could take days. And Thursday, the European Parliament is scheduled to vote on a proposal to ban visas and seize assets of Russian officials linked to the death in custody of Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer who was arrested after uncovering a $230 million fraud scheme.
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Fighting corruption not priority for Russian leadership
Moscow Times
The gap between Russia’s authorities and citizens has become larger than ever. The country’s kleptocracy has degraded to such a level that criminal gangs and government officials have teamed up to create powerful organized crime syndicates. This was demonstrated in the recent Kushchyovskaya tragedy, but there are hundreds – if not thousands – of Kushchyovskayas across Russia.
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To learn more about what happened to Sergei Magnitsky please read below
- Sergei Magnitsky
- Why was Sergei Magnitsky arrested?
- Sergei Magnitsky’s torture and death in prison
- President’s investigation sabotaged and going nowhere
- The corrupt officers attempt to arrest 8 lawyers
- Past crimes committed by the same corrupt officers
- Petitions requesting a real investigation into Magnitsky's death
- Worldwide reaction, calls to punish those responsible for corruption and murder
- Complaints against Lt.Col. Kuznetsov
- Complaints against Major Karpov
- Cover up
- Press about Magnitsky
- Bloggers about Magnitsky
- Corrupt officers:
- Sign petition
- Citizen investigator
- Join Justice for Magnitsky group on Facebook
- Contact us
- Sergei Magnitsky
