Stop the Untouchables. Justice for Sergei Magnitsky.

Official comments on Russia’s visa sanctions against US citizens.

ITAR TASS

Visa sanctions against a number of U.S. citizens introduced by Moscow were not a mirror-like reaction to the drawing up of the so-called Magnitsky list in the U.S., Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Thursday as he spoke live on the air over the Echo of Moscow radio.

The Magnitsky list he referred to is a blacklist of Russian officials, whom the U.S. denies an entry to its territory on the grounds that they were – or might have been – involved in one way or another in the controversial case of the late Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, a staff-member at the Hermitage Capital Foundation consultancy based in the UK.

“We believe the Magnitsky list opens up a possibility of a major blow to bilateral relations,” Ryabkov said. “Once again, the mentality hinged on sanctions shows up. You can’t demonstrate all the time you think you have a right to punish anyone for anything.”