Interpol has Re-opened the Browder Red Notice Case on the Back of Magnitsky’s Posthumous Trial

July 3, 2014

Inter­pol has Re-openedthe Brow­derRed Notice Case on the Back of Magnitsky’s Posthu­mous Tri­al

3 July 2014 – Doc­u­ments recent­ly received from Inter­pol show that the Russ­ian gov­ern­ment has suc­cess­ful­ly con­vinced Interpol’s Com­mis­sion for Con­trol of Files to re-open their con­sid­er­a­tion to issue an Inter­pol Red Notice for Bill Brow­der, by sub­mit­ting Mr Brow­der’s con­vic­tion in absen­tia in Rus­sia, where he was a co-defen­dant with the deceased Sergei Mag­nit­sky in the first ever posthu­mous tri­al in Russ­ian history.

Two pre­vi­ous Russ­ian attempts to get a Red Notice issued for Mr Brow­der failed because Inter­pol deemed those attempts were polit­i­cal­ly moti­vat­ed and vio­lat­ed Inter­pol’s con­sti­tu­tion. Short­ly after Inter­pol’s first rejec­tion of Rus­si­a’s request for Brow­der, Inter­pol’s Gen­er­al Sec­re­tary wrote an edi­to­r­i­al for the Dai­ly Tele­graph news­pa­per, cit­ing Mr Brow­der’s case as the exam­ple for why reforms are not need­ed at Inter­pol (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/10082582/Interpol-makes-the-world-a-safer-place.html).

Strange­ly, Inter­pol has now decid­ed to reopen the case based onthe Mag­nit­sky posthu­mous tri­al. Interpol’s Com­mis­sion for the Con­trol of Interpol’s Files said that it plans to re-exam­ine the Russ­ian sub­mis­sion in rela­tion to Mr Brow­der at its next ses­sion in Octo­ber 2014.

“It would be a true sig­nal of the need for reform of Inter­pol if a Red Notice were issued on the basis of the first posthu­mous tri­al in Europe since Pope For­mo­sus in 897,” said a Her­mitage Cap­i­tal representative.

In July 2013, Sergei Mag­nit­sky was con­vict­ed of tax eva­sion three years after he was mur­dered in Russ­ian state cus­tody, in the first ever posthu­mous tri­al in Russ­ian his­to­ry. Bill Brow­der was con­vict­ed as his co-defen­dant in the sec­ond ever tri­al in absen­tia against a West­ern­er. The tri­al was deemed to be polit­i­cal­ly moti­vat­ed and ille­git­i­mate by the Coun­cil of Europe, the Euro­pean Par­lia­ment and numer­ous inter­na­tion­al human rights organisations.

The con­vic­tions have since been upheld by the Moscow City court in Jan­u­ary this year, in the absence of lawyers for Mr Brow­der and Mr Mag­nit­sky. Instead, they were rep­re­sent­ed by unknown lawyers appoint­ed by the Russ­ian government.

In addi­tion to pre­sent­ing Inter­pol with the con­vic­tions from that tri­al as “new evi­dence,” the Russ­ian author­i­ties pre­sent­ed a “fresh” arrest war­rant for Mr Brow­der, issued in March this year on the basis of the posthu­mous tri­al. The arrest war­rant was signed by Moscow judge Ele­na Stashina, who is sanc­tioned by the U.S. Gov­ern­ment for her role in the false deten­tion of Sergei Mag­nit­sky. Four days before Sergei Mag­nit­sky was mur­dered in police cus­tody, Judge Stashina pro­longed his deten­tion and denied Magnitsky’s med­ical care requests.

Judge Igor Alisov, who issued the posthu­mous con­vic­tion, was also placed on the U.S. Government’s sanc­tions list under the ‘U.S. Sergei Mag­nit­sky Rule of Law Account­abil­i­ty Act,’ for his role in con­ceal­ing the lia­bil­i­ty of offi­cials involved in Sergei Magnitsky’s death.

The doc­u­ments used in the posthu­mous tri­al were fab­ri­cat­ed by Russ­ian Inte­ri­or Min­istry offi­cers, includ­ing offi­cers Artem Kuznetsov and Oleg Silchenko, also involved in Sergei Magnitsky’s false arrest and deten­tion, and who are also sanc­tioned by the U.S. Gov­ern­ment, which pro­hibits U.S. per­sons from any deal­ings with them.

Сенатский комитет Конгресса США одобрил глобальную версию закона Магнитского

July 1, 2014

30 июня 2014 года – Комитет Сената Конгресса США одобрил новый глобальный законопроект имени Сергея Магнитского, вводящий адресные санкции в отношении коррупционеров и лиц, попирающих базовые ценности и свободы человека во всем мире.

«Новый законопроект имени Сергея Магнитского, одобренный в Комитете Конгресса США, вводит индивидуальную ответственность для коррупционеров и нарушителей прав человека во всем мире, в виде запрета на выдачу виз и арест активов этих лиц, действующих под прикрытием поощряющих их тоталитарных и авторитарных режимов в своих странах. Это – развитие уже действующего закона Магнитского, продемонстрировавшего свою эффективность и новый механизм противостояния коррупции и нарушениям прав человека в 21 веке», — сказал представитель кампании «Справедливость для Сергея Магнитского».

В действующий санкционный список правительства США по закону Магнитского уже включены 30 человек. Список публикуется на сайте Министерства финансов США (http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/OFAC-Enforcement/Pages/20140520.aspx).

В Европе Европейский парламент одобрил список из 32 чиновников и частных лиц, причастных к делу Магнитского.

Глобальный законопроект имени Сергея Магнитского будет вынесен на голосование всего Сената Конгресса США.

Global Magnitsky Human Rights & Anti-Corruption Bill Approved by the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee

July 1, 2014

30 June 2014 – In a land­mark vote, the U.S. Sen­ate For­eign Rela­tions Com­mit­tee has approved a new Glob­al Mag­nit­sky Bill (S. 1933) which builds on the suc­cess of Rus­sia-focused Mag­nit­sky leg­is­la­tion by impos­ing tar­get­ed sanc­tions on cor­rupt offi­cials and human rights oppres­sors around the world.

“The new Glob­al Mag­nit­sky Human Rights & Anti-Cor­rup­tion bill is a his­toric piece of leg­is­la­tion designed to deter and cre­ate con­se­quences for those who are respon­si­ble for cor­rup­tion and human rights vio­la­tions around the world today. Mag­nit­sky sanc­tions are the new tech­nol­o­gy for fight­ing human rights abuse in the 21^st cen­tu­ry,” said William Brow­der, leader of the glob­al Mag­nit­sky jus­tice movement.

The new Glob­al Mag­nit­sky bill expands the author­i­ty of the U.S. Pres­i­dent to impose tar­get­ed sanc­tions on for­eign per­sons involved in cor­rup­tion and gross vio­la­tions. The Glob­al Mag­nit­sky sanc­tions include visa ban and asset freezes on indi­vid­ual human rights abusers any­where in the world.

In 2012, the U.S. Con­gress adopt­ed the Rus­sia-focused Mag­nit­sky Act which impos­es such tar­get­ed sanc­tions on indi­vid­u­als who were involved in the tor­ture and killing of Russ­ian anti-cor­rup­tion lawyer Sergei Mag­nit­sky, the cov­er up of these crimes, and indi­vid­u­als who are respon­si­ble for oppress­ing oth­er Russ­ian civ­il rights activists.

Since the adop­tion of the Mag­nit­sky Act, 30 per­sons have been placed on the U.S. Government’s sanc­tions list, includ­ing Russ­ian gov­ern­ment offi­cials as well as leader of the Klyuev Crime Group respon­si­ble for the theft of $230 mil­lion of Russ­ian pub­lic funds exposed by late Sergei Mag­nit­sky (http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/OFAC-Enforcement/Pages/20140520.aspx).

The glob­al Mag­nit­sky bill is the lat­est in a series of efforts by the US and Europe to build on the Mag­nit­sky Act and end impuni­ty for human rights abusers and cor­rupt offi­cials around the world.

Fol­low­ing the vote in the Sen­ate For­eign Rela­tions Com­mit­tee, the next step in the leg­isla­tive process is for the Glob­al Mag­nit­sky bill to be vot­ed on the Sen­ate floor.

See details on the Glob­al Mag­nit­sky bill:

https://beta.congress.gov/bill/113^th-congress/senate-bill/1933

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