Russia To Seek Politically-Motivated Interpol Red Notice Against William Browder In Retaliation for the Magnitsky Act

April 22, 2013

Today judge Petr Stupin of the Moscow Tverskoi District Court issued an arrest warrant in absentia for the CEO of Hermitage Capital Management, William Browder, who has been the leader of a global justice campaign for late Sergei Magnitsky. The Russian Interior Ministry stated their purpose in issuing the warrant was to use it as a pre-condition to filing an Interpol Red Notice to search for and detain Mr Browder wherever he travels in the world.
“The in absentia arrest is necessary for the Interpol to conduct a search,” said Russian Interior Ministry investigator Alexeeva to the court.
The Moscow court approved the Russian Interior Ministry’s request in spite of numerous legal violations and the allegations against Mr Browder being completely groundless. The Russian Interior Ministry alleges a violation of Gazprom foreign ownership regulation, which envisaged no criminal sanctions and was abolished more than seven years ago.
The Russian Interior Ministry commenced their case against Mr Browder shortly after the US Congress passed the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act. The request for an in absentia arrest of Mr Browder was approved by the Russian Interior Ministry on the day that the U.S. Government published the Magnitsky Sanctions list, comprising Interior Ministry officials. The same Interior Ministry general Sergei Borodulin who initiated a posthumous prosecution against Mr Magnitsky, is now overseeing the case against Mr Browder. Court documents have revealed that to search for Mr Browder, the Russian authorities have enlisted the Anti-Terrorist Department of the Interior Ministry.
In their public statements, the Russian Interior Ministry also expressed their deep discomfort with international public exposure of their actions in the Magnitsky case. They said:
“Representatives of the affiliate of Hermitage Capital …have no right to give an evaluation to the acts of official bodies of power who are conducting an objective investigation.” (http://mvd.ru/news/item/944834/)
“We have no intention of being muzzled by a group of corrupt police officers who are trying to cover up the grave crimes of torture and extra-judicial killing and massive thefts,” said a Hermitage Capital representative.

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