Magnitsky list approval puts pressure on Russian justice: FM

The European Parliament has demanded that the Council of the European Union adopt a European "Magnitsky list” and impose sanctions against those Russian officials who were mentioned in the list. Approved at a plenary session in Strasbourg on October 23, the document seeks to ban these officials from entering the EU and freeze their assets in European banks. The Council of the European Union is a body that is authorized to impose economic and visa sanctions.

Experts pointed to the non-binding nature of the resolution which means that the sanctions against Russian officials will unlikely be imposed in the near future. According to a EU procedure, the sanctions can only be slapped after the adoption of a law on the "Magnitsky list.” Even so, the topic has already become the EU’s new headache because no one in the eurozone wants to spoil ties with Moscow.

Alexei Mukhin, head of the Moscow-based Center for Political Information, says that the matter is clearly politicized.

"A decision by members of the European Parliament is politically motivated," Mukhin says, not ruling out that the move was endorsed by the United States and its EU partners. "At present, the EU badly needs Russia which is seen by Brussels as a reliable energy supplier. I think that doing the US’ bidding, the EU actually tries to tarnish its ties with Russia."

Some experts say that the European "Magnitsky list” will never see the light of day because Brussels needs neither the list nor the sanctions. The EU’s executive bodies have always displayed a more reasonable approach to the matter. They made it plain that Brussels wants Russia to deal with the "Magnitsky case” on own by notably punishing all those implicated in the death of Hermitage Capital lawyer Sergei Magnitsky in a pre-trial detention center in 2009. Moscow is irked with the European Parliament’s persistent attempts to test Russia’s "genetic compliance”, something that the EU knows perfectly well.

Boris Makarenko, of the Center of Political Technologies in Moscow, warns of possible repercussions in case of the adoption of the European "Magnitsky list.”

"I think that problems may arise on the level of some EU countries," Makarenko says, referring to the Schengen area of which almost all EU countries are the members. "If a separate EU country slaps a visa ban on Russian officials, other EU countries will almost certainly follow suit. Small wonder, given that the West has repeatedly warned against violating international law."

The EU knows full well that its adopting the "Magnitsky list” will prompt Moscow to respond in kind, something that was the case with the adoption of the "Magnitsky list” by the United States.

The Russian Foreign Office has decried EU parliament’s support of visa sanctions against blacklisted Russian officials as an attempt to interfere with Russia's judicial system.

The European Parliament Tuesday approved a report proposing the EU Council to ban "Magnitsky List” officials from entering the EU.

The Russian Foreign Ministry responded to the EP’s decision with a statement criticizing the report as "quite superficial” and "politically biased.” Moscow called on the EP to stop interfering with the internal affairs of other nations and pay closer attention to human rights violations in EU member countries, such as the abuse of Russian minority rights in Baltic states and their glorification of Nazi collaborators.

The European Parliament’s approval of the Magnitsky List is politically biased, believes deputy head of the Russian delegation to PACE, Deputy Speaker of the Assembly, Leonid Slutsky.

The Parliamentarians took up the case, reminded Slutsky, 3.5 years after his death in prison. "Moreover, at a time when negotiations on a visa-free regime between Russia and the EU are in full swing," said the diplomat.

He reminded that the European Parliament resolution is of a recommendatory nature, and the final decision on imposing visa and financial restrictions on Russian officials should be taken by the EU executive authorities.

"We can only rely on their wisdom and sound judgment," he concluded.

The European Parliament approved drafting the Magnitsky List on Tuesday evening.

The European Parliament has approved drafting the so-called Listfor the EU during its Strasbourg session.

The document imposes visa and financial restrictions on Russian officials suspected of involvement in the death of Hermitage Capital lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.

The resolution claims that Magnitsky’s arrest, detention conditions and death in a pre-trial center is a sign of disrespect of basic human rights.

The EU also considers the post-mortem trial to be breaching national and international law and illustrating the poor condition of Russian justice.

The Euro MPs generally assess the case as being politically biased and claim that some people in Russia are accused of corruption and economic crime simply to be removed from business or politics.

Russia and its domestic policy will top the October session of the European Parliament which is under way from October 22 to October 26. The deputies will be discussing the so-called Magnitsky List, the recent incident involving the Pussy Riot punk band and a ban on the import of Estonian meat to Russia. Experts are sure that they are short of information to pass any resolutions on these issues.

Magnitsky List is a new issue on the agenda of the European Parliament session compared to September. 60 Russian officials are suspected of involvement in the death of Hermitage Capital lawyer Sergei Magnitsky. If the European Parliament approves the list, the Council of Europe and all EU governments will be ordered to impose visa restrictions on the 60 people on the list. Britain’s Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Commons has demanded that the government publish the names of those who will be denied British visas. British lawmakers want the list to be made public. A similar demand may come from European lawmakers.

European MPs have been discussing Russia’s domestic policy for nearly a year. In December 2011 they expressed disagreement over the results of parliamentary elections in Russia. They were also dissatisfied with the outcome of the presidential elections in March 2012. Even though both the parliamentary and the presidential elections were legitimate, European experts continue to question their results. Apparently, this meets their time-serving purposes.

The Pussy Riot band has not only evoked sympathy in Europe – it has been included in the short list of candidates for the Sakharov Prize, which has been awarded by the European Parliament since 1988 for achievements in human rights protection and the development of democracy. An array of Russian human rights campaigners are among the recipients of the Sakharov Award. They include Lyudmila Alekseyeva, Sergei Kovalev, Oleg Orlov from Memorial Society, Nelson Mandela, the United Nations Organization. It looks like European lawmakers know nothing about the reasons for the arrest of Pussy Riot members and the Sakharov Award could be conferred for hooliganism, Europarliament deputy from Latvia Alexander Mirsky says.

The Sakharov Prize is given for achievements in freedom of expression and human rights campaigning. I see no link between Pussy Riot’s outrageous behavior in an Orthodox church and achievements in freedom of speech and human rights. I’ll try to convince my fellow lawmakers in the European Parliament that a decision to present the band with the Sakharov Award would be idiotic, to say the least.

Decisions made by the European Parliament are not obligatory. European MPs all but give out recommendations, even though in a tough and high-profile manner. The European Parliament simply puts into words what EU leaders are unwilling to formulate for different reasons.

Voice of Russia