Press Release
For Immediate Distribution
22 January 2014 – Prominent Russian Duma Member, Chair of International Affairs Committee Alexei Pushkov came out today alleging Hermitage could have been behind Magnitsky’s death, and “was to benefit” from it because Magnitsky “could have given serious information against Browder” (http://ria.ru/world/20140122/990696164.html). Pushkov made his statement on the eve of the vote by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on the resolution and report called “Refusing Impunity for the Killers of Sergei Magnitsky.”
“Today’s statement by Pushkov is a clear demonstration that the Putin regime is determined to protect those who killed Sergei Magnitsky in spite ofoverwhelming evidence and the clear conclusions by the Rapporteur to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe of the Russian government’s complicity,” said a Hermitage Capital representative.
The 53-page report prepared for the Council of Europe by Swiss MP, Rapporteur Andreas Gross, details “the massive cover-up involving senior officials of the competent ministries, the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Investigative Committee and even certain courts” (report is available here:http://www.assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/XRef/Xref-DocDetails-EN.asp?fileid=20084&wrqid=0&wrqref=&ref=1&lang=EN).
The report has been approved by the PACE’s Committee for Legal Affairs and Human Rights.
The resolution to be debated next week by PACE will consider the issue of sanctions in light of the ongoing impunity of those responsible for Magnitsky’s ill-treatment and killing.
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