Posts Tagged ‘British’

11
September 2011

David Cameron urged to get tough with Russia over Sergei Magnitsky’s death

The Observer

PM should use Kremlin visit to raise the case of whistleblower lawyer’s death, say politicians from US and UK.

Former US presidential candidate John McCain is among a number of senior American politicians urging David Cameron to bar from Britain dozens of Russian officials implicated in the controversial death of a whistleblower.

The prime minister arrives in Moscow on Monday, his first visit to the Kremlin, amid mounting international pressure to follow the lead of the US by introducing visa bans for individuals linked to the death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.

The 37-year-old was working for a British company when he exposed the biggest tax fraud in Russian history. After accusing Interior Ministry officials, Magnitsky was arrested and died in police custody after being denied essential medical care. Investigators say the father of two was tortured and badly beaten in the hours before his death in November 2009.

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11
September 2011

‘The British government must confront Russia over human rights abuses’

The Daily Telegraph

An influential British businessmen has accused David Cameron of going soft on Russia and of naively treating the Kremlin with kid gloves out of a misplaced fear of Moscow.

In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph on the eve of the Prime Minister’s historic visit to Russia tomorrow, William Browder, the founder of UK-based Hermitage Capital Management, said the British government had shied away from tackling Russia on human rights issues and claimed that the Kremlin was laughing at Mr Cameron behind his back.

“The government needs to be realistic about dealing with Russia. But it doesn’t seem to understand its major strength in dealing with Russian officials,” Mr Browder charged.

“If they think that making nice with the Russians will solve any problems, it won’t. The Russians just laugh at anyone who is approaching them from a position of weakness.”

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31
August 2011

Great Britain might introduce sanctions against the Russians on the Magnitsky List

WPS: What the Papers Say

MacShane said, “Magnitsky’s death was gruesome but nobody has ever been brought to answer for it even though identities of these people are known. Hermitage Capital is a British company. Its head William Browder is a citizen of Great Britain. The authorities of Great Britain cannot remain a disinterested observer.”

“Since Moscow is clearly unwilling to prosecute the people whose decisions and actions resulted in the death of an innocent, it becomes our duty. Putin and Medvedev ought to be reminded that the days of Josef Stalin are over and impunity with them. The United States has made its contribution. It’s our turn now.”

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30
August 2011

British MP Urges Russia Visa Restrictions Over Magnitsky Case

Radio Free Europe

British Member of Parliament (MP) Denis MacShane has called on the British government to place visa restrictions on Russian officials accused of involvement in the death of Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer who died in prison in 2009.

“What the United States government has done is to list 60 Russian officials who are named in connection with Mr. Magnitsky’s death and I’m urging the British prime minister, as our other British MPs, to do the same thing,” MacShane told RFE/RL’s Russian Service.

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03
March 2011

Cameron voices concerns over Russian lawyer’s death

Financial Times

The UK has urged the Kremlin to reveal the findings of an investigation into the death in custody of a Russian corporate lawyer who alleged police corruption.

Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer working for Hermitage Capital, a Russian investment fund, died in a Moscow jail in 2009 after testifying against police for alleged complicity in a $230m tax fraud using companies that belonged to his client.

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