“Magnitsky Amendment” Approved in the UK

Photo from Ukrinform–UATV

 

Members of the British parliament adopted the Magnitsky Amendment on Tuesday, May 1, which would allow the country to impose sanctions, and ban visa-issuance and entry on people who commit gross human rights violations, Reuters reported.

The amendment to a new Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill, going through the British parliament, passed without a vote, as it was backed both by the ruling Conservatives and the main opposition Labour Party.

The amendment is not specifically aimed at Russians, but it comes at a time of crisis in relations between Britain and Russia, following a nerve agent attack in England on a Russian ex-spy and his daughter, which London blames on Moscow.

“Important moment in Parliament today as ‘Magnitsky’ provisions targeted at gross human rights violators are added to Sanctions Bill. These will allow UK to act against those responsible for serious offences worldwide. UK stands up for human rights globally,” the British foreign minister, Boris Johnson,  wrote on Twitter.

The first Magnisky Amendment was adopted by the United States six years ago, which intended to punish Russian officials responsible for the death of the Russian tax accountant, Sergei Magnitsky. in a Moscow prison in 2009. Magnitsky was arrested on the same charge that he was investigating, collusion to commit tax fraud, and he died in November 2009, just eight days before he would have been put on trial or released. His supporters say that he was tortured in prison. Canada and several European countries have also since adopted the amendment.

Bill Browder, an investment fund manager who employed Magnitsky, and has led a campaign to punish Russian officials he blames for the lawyer’s death, took to Twitter to thank British lawmakers who played a part in the British Magnitsky Amendment. “Thank you for making a UK Magnitsky Act happen,” he said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has dismissed allegations that Magnitsky’s death was linked to mistreatment, saying he died of heart failure. A Russian court sentenced Browder in absentia, in December, to nine years in prison, after finding him guilty of deliberate bankruptcy and tax evasion. Browder denies these allegations.