Stop the Untouchables. Justice for Sergei Magnitsky.

Russian delegation hits Washington to lobby against “Magnitsky” sanctions

Reuters

The Russians are coming to Washington; in fact, they are already here. But they aren’t happy.

A Russian parliamentary delegation is in the U.S. capital to lobby American lawmakers against a bill sanctioning Russian officials implicated in human rights abuses — a move Moscow considers offensive outside interference in its affairs.

After some meetings on Capitol Hill, the four-man Russian delegation on Wednesday did not have a lot of progress to report from their lobbying against the “Magnitsky bill,” named after Sergei Magnitsky, an anti-corruption Russian lawyer who died in 2009 after a year in Russian jails.

But they had a warning.

“We really don’t want that the U.S. Congress adopts this bill that has the potential to deteriorate U.S.-Russia relations for years or even for decades to come. It will become a real irritant in U.S.-Russia relations,” delegation member Vitaly Malkin told reporters, speaking through a translator at the Russian embassy.

A Russian parliamentary investigation into the Magnitsky case is underway, the group said, displaying a dossier with what they said were the preliminary findings.

The Magnitsky bill pending in Congress would require the United States to deny visas and freeze the assets of Russians linked to Magnitsky’s death, as well as those of other human rights abusers in Russia. The Senate version, sponsored by Democrat Ben Cardin, would extend the sanctions to human rights abusers anywhere in the world.