Special Features
TRIBUTE TO SERGEI MAGNITSKY
On the 5th Anniversary of Sergei Magnitsky’s Murder in Russian Police
Custody, Please Join Us in Watching a Two Minute Tribute Song to Sergei
on YouTube.
To commemorate the fifth anniversary of Sergei
Magnitsky’s death in Russian police custody today, please join us by
watching a short song on YouTube devoted to Sergei’s life and his
sacrifice
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0dsvgBHNos&list=PLtRWoqwq_IR3XtbGTzwUcnl_ WhKKpMzvc.
Sergei Magnitsky was a 37-year old Russian anti-corruption lawyer who
uncovered a $230 million fraud perpetrated by Russian government
officials and organised criminals. After he implicated Russian police
officers in the crime, he was arrested by the very same officers,
tortured and brutally killed at Matrosskaya Tishina pre-trial detention
center in Moscow on 16 November 2009.
The Sergei Magnitsky tribute song says:
“Jailed for the words that he spoke
His name lives on
In the name of the music and the folks
Who fail to forget that rulers need
To show respect to the people they lead…
Sergei…You didn’t lose your life in vain –
Everyone on Earth will remember the name.”
The Sergei Magnitsky tribute song was written by a songwriter Samuel
Smith, and recorded as a result of a request made on www.movements.org, a
crowd-sourcing platform for human rights activists around the world. The
video directed by Alexandra Ageeva has been created by Russian civic
rights activists, including Pussy Riot, who conducted a series of
one-person protest actions around Moscow this summer.
The music video begins with an image of Russian President Vladimir Putin
at a televised press conference in December 2012, publicly denying that
Sergei Magnitsky had been tortured in pre-trial detention before his
death:
Vladimir Putin: “Mr Magnitsky perished, died, not from torture, no one
tortured him.”
The Magnitsky music video also presents images of a young Sergei
Magnitsky, and of his resting place at a Moscow cemetery.
The video concludes with a photo of Sergei on holiday with his friends
and the byline: “Russian hero.”
While the killing of Sergei Magnitsky has ignited worldwide condemnation
and lead to numerous political and legal calls for justice around the
globe, five years on there has still been no justice for Sergei Magnitsky
in Russia. Instead, he himself was posthumously prosecuted in the first
posthumous trial in the history of Russia, with the judge presiding at
the trial immediately promoted by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The
Russian authorities also last year closed the investigation into his
death finding “no sign of crime,” and refused all applications from
Sergei Magnitsky’s mother to reopen the investigation into the evidence
of his torture and murder.
On Friday, the US State Department released a statement on the eve of the
fifth anniversary of Sergei Magnitsky’s death which says: “Despite widely
publicized, credible evidence of criminal conduct resulting in
Magnitskiy’s death, Russian authorities have failed to bring to justice
those responsible. We remain concerned about
impunity for this crime and the atmosphere of intimidation for those who
work to uncover corruption or human rights abuses in the Russian
Federation. On the fifth anniversary of Magnitskiy’s death, we continue
to call for full accountability for those responsible for his unjust
imprisonment and wrongful death and we will continue to fully support the
efforts of those in Russia who seek to bring these individuals to
justice, including through implementation of the Sergei
Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012.”
(http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2014/11/234094.htm)
Sergei Magnitsky’s case and the impunity of the Russian officials
involved have become a symbol of the corruption and failing justice
system in Russia, and of the abuse of the rights of its citizens who
challenge the authorities.
For more information, please contact:
Magnitsky Justice Campaign
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0dsvgBHNos&list=PLtRWoqwq_IR3XtbGTzwUcnl_
WhKKp
Softly spoken, words bleed the truth
And help discover the broken and confused
The fight for justice and the path of one man
Bring new beginnings and take down corrupt plans
Sergei,
You can’t pass away from the people who know
Sergei,
Your words lead the way for the world to go
You didn’t lose your life in vain
Everyone on Earth will remember the name
Sergei,
Everyone on Earth will remember the name
Jailed for the words that he spoke
His name lives on
In the name of the music and the folks
Who fail to forget that rulers need
To show respect to the people they lead
Sergei,
You can’t pass away from the people who know
Sergei,
Your words lead the way for the world to go
You didn’t lose your life in vain Everyone
on Earth will remember the name
Sergei,
Everyone on Earth will remember the name
Sergei
Sergei
Magnitsky Justice Campaign: Pussy Riot to Lead Tribute to Sergei Magnitsky at the British Parliament on the Fifth Anniversary of His Murder in Russian Police Custody
11 November 2014 – This month marks the fifth anniversary of the killing in Russian police custody of 37-year old anti-corruption lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who exposed a $230 million fraud perpetrated by Russian government officials and organised criminals.
While his death ignited worldwide condemnation and lead to numerous political and legal calls for justice around the globe, five years on there is still no justice in Russia for Sergei Magnitsky.
To mark the memory of Sergei Magnitsky and the fight against corruption which he gave his life for, politicians, artists, journalists and campaigners will gather in London on Tuesday 18 November 2014 to participate in a major panel by Henry Jackson Society to be held at the British parliament.
The session chaired by Chris Bryant, MP, is entitled ‘Prospects for Russia after Putin: Five Years from the Death of Sergei Magnitsky.’
Among the panelists are members of the Russian punk protest group Pussy Riot, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alekhina, who were previously jailed in Russia for staging an anti-Putin protest in a Moscow church. Also participating will be Hon Irwin Cotler MP, former General Prosecutor of Canada, who represented prisoners of conscience Nathan Sharansky and Nelson Mandela; former Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov; environmental activist and opposition leader Evgenia Chirikova; and Franco-Russo journalist Elena Servettaz, author of the book, “Why Europe Needs a Magnitsky Law”.
“This event will commemorate Sergei Magnitsky’s legacy by bringing together some of the top human rights campaigners to discuss Russia after Putin, and if there is a chance for the kind of Russia that Sergei Magnitsky believed in,” said a Magnitsky Justice Campaign representative.
Sergei Magnitsky was a 37-year old lawyer and outside counsel for the Hermitage Fund, who was tortured to death in Russian Interior Ministry custody after he testified about the involvement of Interior Ministry officials in the theft of his client’s companies and the $230 million theft. The Russian officials responsible for his arrest, torture and killing were absolved from any responsibility, promoted and decorated with state honours.
For more information, please contact:
Magnitsky Justice Campaign
To register your attendance at the Magnitsky event, please go to Henry Jackson Society website:
Justice for Sergei Magnitsky campaign: Ambassadors from Council of Europe States Reject Parliamentarians’ Call to Improve Judicial Cooperation in Case Exposed by Murdered Lawyer Sergei Magnitsky
10 November 2014 – Foreign ministry officials from the Council of Europe have issued a rejection of demands by parliamentarians from 47-member states to improve international judicial cooperation in the money laundering case exposed by murdered anti-corruption lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.
Chaired by Mr E. Eyyubov, Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister of Azerbaijan, the Strasbourg-based ambassadors comprising the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers, the international organisation’s decision-making body, refused to propose any concrete measures that parliamentarians have asked for in their Recommendation entitled “Refusing Impunity for the Killers of Sergei Magnitsky” which was adopted by overwhelming majority in January this year.
The parliamentarians of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly asked in their January 2014 recommendation the Committee of Foreign Affairs Ministers to:
“examine ways and means of improving international co-operation in investigating the “money trail” of the funds originating in the fraudulent tax reimbursements denounced by Mr Magnitsky; and, in particular, of ensuring that the Russian Federation fully participates in these efforts.” (http://assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/XRef/Xref-XML2HTML-EN.asp?fileid=20410&lang=en)
In the response to parliamentarians, the Committee of Ministers ignored the recommendations completely and changed the subject citing several general reports on Russia issued by MONEYVAL, a Council of Europe’s body in the area of anti-money laundering. None of the reports examine the $230 million money laundering case exposed by Sergei Magnitsky in any way.
“Although MONEYVAL does not address individual cases, it aims to provide its members with the capacity to fight money-laundering within their borders and to co-operate in order to prevent transborder money-laundering. At the international level, MONEYVAL works closely together with the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF). The Russian Federation is a member of both these bodies,” said the response from the Committee of Ministers to parliamentarians published on the official Council of Europe website (http://assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/XRef/Xref-XML2HTML-en.asp?fileid=21312&lang=en).
The diplomatic answer to Council of Europe’s parliamentarians from the Committee of Ministers adopted at the Committee’s session on 22 and 24 October in Strasbourg further said:
“The Committee [of Ministers] reiterates its call for an effective investigation and the bringing to justice of those responsible.”
Justice for Sergei Magnitsky campaign representative said:
“This strange bureaucratic response is defying the efforts of parliamentarians from 47 countries in Europe to achieve some measure of justice in the Magnitsky case. It is also an abandonment of Sergei Magnitsky who paid with his life trying to stop corrupt Russian officials from stealing millions from his country. The appointed diplomats in Europe should heed the call from the elected parliamentarians who have shown the resolve of the people to see that justice is done.”
The parliamentarians’ recommendation was based on the independent investigation into the Magnitsky case conducted by Council of Europe’s Rapporteur, Swiss MP Andreas Gross, who concluded that there was a need to improve international cooperation in this case because of the high-level cover up in this case in Russia.
Rapporteur Gross stated:
“My initial conclusion, namely that we are in the presence of a massive cover-up involving senior officials of the competent ministries, the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Investigative Committee and even certain courts finds itself further consolidated.” (Report “Refusing the Impunity for the Killers of Sergei Magnitsky” http://www.assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/XRef/X2H-Xref-ViewPDF.asp?FileID=20084&lang=en).
Rapporteur Gross pointed out that the money laundering exposed by Sergei Magnitsky has been traced to a large number of European states which necessitated international judicial cooperation in this case:
“The laundering of the funds that can be traced back to the fraudulent US$230 million tax refund denounced by Mr Magnitsky has involved a large number of European States… Given the complexity of the criminal investigations required and the obvious need for international co-operation, the Assembly should also seize the Committee of Ministers in order to ensure that this important affair is included on the agenda of intergovernmental co-operation.” (Addendum to Report “Refusing the Impunity for the Killers of Sergei Magnitsky”, http://www.assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/XRef/X2H-Xref-ViewPDF.asp?FileID=20345&lang=en)
Conclusions expressed in the report “Refusing Impunity for the Killers of Sergei Magnitsky” prepared by Rapporteur Gross were adopted by overwhelming majority this January by the 47-member state Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (Resolution “Refusing the Impunity for the Killers of Sergei Magnitsky” http://assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/XRef/Xref-XML2HTML-en.asp?fileid=20409&lang=en).
For further information please contact:
Justice for Sergei Magnitsky campaign
Phone: +44 207 440 1777
Email: info@lawandorderinrussia.org
Website: http://lawandorderinrussia.org
Sergei Magnitsky Justice Campaigners Demand Transparent Investigation into the Suspicious Death in Moscow of Russian Actor and Civil Rights Activist Alexei Devotchenko
6 November 2014 – Campaigners for Justice for Sergei Magnitsky demand a transparent investigation into yesterday’s suspicious death in Moscow of Russian actor, civil activist, and a friend of the Magnitsky campaign Alexei Devotchenko.
Alexei Devotchenko was one of the few free voices left in Russia who had not been killed, arrested or forced into exile because of his way of thinking.
He was bravely speaking out against the political repression, kleptocracy and human rights violations endorsed by President Putin’s regime. Three years ago, in an act of protest against corruption and political censorship, Alexei Devotchenko returned the state honours which had been personally awarded to him by President Putin in recognition of his accomplishments as an outstanding actor. He explained it in an interview to Novy Region 2: “I am completely fed up with this tzardom-statedom. With its lies, cover-ups, state-sanctioned robbery, bribery and other virtues…” (http://www.newsinfo.ru/news/
Last year, Alexei Devotchenko was a prominent figure at the memorial ceremony to mark the life and death of Sergei Magnitsky, held at the Sakharov centre. Alexei Devotchenko read poems by Russian poet and Nobel Prize laureate Joseph Brodsky who was expelled from the Soviet Union in 1972. Afterwards, he spoke about the difficult choices that every free-thinking Russian has to make, and whether it’s safe for him and his family to stay in the country given the political repressions and bloodshed that could come of it (http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Yesterday, Alexei Devotchenko was found dead with signs of violence in a pool of blood near his apartment in Moscow. Despite early indications of a suspicious death, this morning a ‘source’ in the Russian law enforcement stated that murder was excluded, that the actor was a “drunk,” that the bruises were caused by glass furniture in his apartment, and that a heart attack is a possible explanation for his death (http://www.rg.ru/2014/11/06/
‘We mourn the death of a courageous Russian patriot Alexei Devotchenko. We believe that the Russian public deserves to know what really happened. We are aware of the extent of cover up that is possible. As we know from experience, it would not be the first time in Russia that murder was covered up by a “heart attack” and “drunkenness.” We demand that the investigation of Alexei Devotchenko’s death is conducted openly and transparently,” said a Sergei Magnitsky Justice campaign representative.
For more information, please contact:
Magnitsky Justice Campaign