Law and Order in Russia: Nikolai Gorokhov Returns to Moscow Court After Four-Story Plunge to Release New Evidence on Magnitsky’s Death Cover Up

Nikolai Gorokhov Returns to Moscow Court After Four-Story Plunge to Release New Evidence on Magnitsky’s Death Cover Up

24 May 2017 – Today at 3pm the Moscow Basmanny court will hear a complaint filed by Nikolai Gorokhov, the lawyer representing Sergei Magnitsky’s mother about new evidence of an official cover up of Sergei Magnitsky’s death in custody.

The previous court hearing which had been scheduled for 24 March 2017 in which Mr Gorokhov intended to present this evidence could not go ahead because Mr Gorokhov plunged four stories from his apartment in circumstances which many believe were intended to stop his activities.

The complaint filed by Mr Gorokhov alleges that an official cover up of Sergei Magnitsky’s death was orchestrated by the Russian investigator Strizhov, who closed the Magnitsky death case claiming there was “no crime,” despite injuries on Magnitsky’s body.

The new evidence submitted by Mr Gorokhov shows that investigator Strizhov worked closely with key suspects implicated by Sergei Magnitsky in the US$230 million fraud, while purportedly investigating them.

The new evidence comprises WhatsApp conversations and emails from the so-called “Pavlov Leaks” published on the Internet. The key conversations are between Andrei Pavlov, a key member of the Kluyev organized crime group, and his long-term associate, former Russian Interior Ministry investigator Oleg Urzhumtsev.

The Pavlov Leaks show that there were agreements between investigator Strizhov and members of the Klyuev group one month before investigator Strizhov exonerated Pavlov, Interior Ministry officer Urzhumtsev and other criminal group associates from liability for the US$230 mln theft and its cover up.

Mr Gorokhov filed a complaint against the refusal by the Russian Investigative Committee to investigate the new evidence of abuse of office by investigator Strizhov in Magnitsky’s death investigation.

The complaint will be heard today by judge Safina of Basmanny district court at 3 pm.

For more information, please contact:

Justice for Sergei Magnitsky

+44 207 440 1777

e-mail: info@lawandorderinrussia.org

www.lawandorderinrussia.org

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U.S. Strikes a Syrian Pro-Assad Regime Convoy

By: Yamillet Brizuela
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

AL-TANF, Syria – The U.S. military carried out an air strike on Thursday, May 18, against the supporters of President Bashar al-Assad’s Syrian regime convoy and Iranian-backed militia that neared a Western special forces unit and US-backed rebels’ base in al-Tanf.

Residents walk through damaged streets at town of Zabadani in the Damascus countryside on 18 May 2017. Photo Courtesy by AP.

On Friday, May 19, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (“SOHR”) reported that at least eight members of the pro-Assad regime forces were killed, most of them were of non-Syrian nationalities. SOHR reported that the airstrike destroyed at least four vehicles which were carrying supporters of the regime, suggesting that injuries from the destruction could cause the death toll to rise.

Syria and Russia claimed the U.S airstrike on the convoy was “government terrorism” that caused a “massacre” which killed several people, both civilians and soldiers in al-Tanf. Specifically, the Syrian government stated that the airstrikes were a “blatant attack on forces fighting terrorism.” The Russian government claimed the airstrikes violated Syria’s sovereignty.

On the other hand, the U.S. claimed the airstrike was “defensive” in nature. The U.S. Defense Secretary reported that the U.S. military determined that the convoy posed a threat to the U.S. and partner forces; he also claimed that Russia was warned prior to the airstrike that the convoy was “getting too close to coalition forces.”  The U.S. claimed airstrike to be a signal to President Bashar Assad to keep his forces out of a zone where U.S.-backed rebels are fighting the Islamic State group, and that they will continue to defend themselves against any threat to the coalition or its allies in the area.

This airstrike has been the second of such confrontation between the United States and the pro-Assad regime. In April, U.S. President Donald Trump authorized the launch of dozens of missiles against the Shayrat airbase, destroying a number of key Syrian military assets, in retaliation for a chemical weapons attack on civilians believed to have been conducted by the Assad regime that week.

In addition, U.S President Donald Trump’s first foreign trip as president began on Friday, May 19, in the Middle East. Syria’s war and Arab-Israeli peace are said to be the top of his agenda.

For more information, please see:

ABC News- Syria Says US Airstrike Killed Several Soldiers Near Jordan- 19 May 2017

Aljazeera- Syria, Russia Condemn US-led Strike on pro-Assad Forces- 20 May 2017

BBC- Syria and Russia Condemn US-Led Attack on pro-Assad Forces- 19 May 2017

Malaysia Sun- U.S. Claims it Launched Defensive Strikes on pro-Assad Troops, but Syria and Russia Claim Dozens of Civilians and Soldiers Killed- 20 May 2017

Middle East Eye- Syria War: Russia Claims US Attack Killed Civilians- 19 May 2017

Reuters- Syrian Negotiator Calls U.S. Strike ‘Terrorism’ and a ‘Massacre’- 19 May 2017

Reuters- U.S. says Iranian-Directed Convoy Targeted by U.S. Strike in Syria- 19 May 2017

SOHR- 8 Killed Mostly non-Syrians in targeting by Coalition’s warplanes for a Military Convoy of the Regime Forces and the Militiamen Loyal to them in the Syrian Desert- 18 May 2017

Western Europe cracks down on racially charged harassment of government officials

By: Sara Adams
Impunity Watch News Reporter, Europe

Sylvana Simons speaks to the public about her newest book in March. Image courtesy of the Associated Press.

In Italy, a member of the European Parliament was ordered to pay $55,670 in damages to another member of the Parliament, Cecile Kyenge. Ms. Kyenge is Italy’s first black minister, born in the Congo but educated as an ophthalmologist in Italy. Her harasser, Mario Borghezio, had said in a 2013 radio interview that  Ms. Kyenge had “[taken] away a job from an Italian doctor” and that he did not want her to “impose her tribal traditions from the Congo” on Italians.

Before deciding to press charges against Mr. Borghezio, Ms. Kyenge had been given police protection after being physically harassed at a political rally. At the rally, she had bananas thrown at her and was compared to an orangutan by the harassers.

This ruling came at the same time as 20 people in The Netherlands were convicted of online racial and sexist hate speech. Sylvana Simons is a black politician and media personality who had received harassing comments from thousands of people on the internet. Ms. Simons was born in Suriname but raised in the Netherlands. One of her harassers had photo-shopped her face onto a picture of a Ku Klux Klan lynching.

Mr. Borghezio believed that his remarks about Ms. Kyenge were within his rights as a lawmaker to criticize a government minister. He felt as if he was being “politically prosecuted”.

In the Netherlands, four of the 20 convicted were charged with community service while the rest were fined $165 to $500 for their behavior.

Though free speech is valued in both countries, the Dutch court said that when the opinion is an “insult, threat, riot, or discrimination, there is a criminal offense.”

Ms. Kyenge, like Ms. Simons, hope that this verdict will show that racist harassment won’t be tolerated by her country. The Dutch court said they hope that this will deter people from engaging in harassing behavior in the future.

These stories come at a time where right-wing populism is on the rise, bringing with it the resentment of political correctness, or the “culture of tolerance”. It is left unclear whether the decisions by these courts really will prevent future cases of hate speech and defamation.

For more information, please see: 

New York Times – 20 Are Convicted for Sexist and Racist Abuse of Dutch Politician – 18 May 2017

BBC News – Italy’s first black minister ‘vindicated’ by racist slurs verdict – 19 May 2017

New York Times – Italian in Europe’s Parliament Convicted of Defamation for Racial Insult – 19 May 2017

BBC News – Dutch race hate row engulfs presenter Sylvana Simons – 25 November 2016

Aljazeera – Sylvana Simons: Racism is accepted in the Netherlands – 18 January 2017

 

Syria Deeply: (Un)Safe Zones in Syria, Evacuation of Remaining Rebel-Held Damascus Districts and Confrontation Between the U.S. And Syria

Syria Deeply
May 19, 2017
This Week in Syria
Welcome to our weekly summary of Syria Deeply’s top coverage of crisis in Syria.
Safe Zones In Syria: As another round of United Nations-led peace talks kicked off in Geneva on Tuesday, Syria Deeply launched its Safe Zones platform.
Russia, Iran and Turkey are not the first to propose creating some form of “de-escalation” zone in Syria. We’ve compiled a comprehensive overview, including original reporting, our own in-depth analysis and thought-provoking expert commentary, of the various plans discussed on the international stage to stem the conflict and alleviate the humanitarian crisis.
We’ll keep adding to it over time, providing you with the necessary context and facts as this issue unfolds.
U.S.-Syria Tensions: Diplomatic tensions escalated between the U.S. and the Syrian government this week, concluding in military action. On Thursday, U.S.-led coalition warplanes hit a pro-government convoy advancing “inside an established de-confliction zone” near the al-Tanf base in southern Syria and “posed a threat to U.S. and partner forces,” according to a coalition statement. Syrian state news said there were “a number” of casualties.
U.S. and British special forces use the base to train Syrian rebel forces fighting ISIS. Earlier in the week, pro-government forces advanced near Syria’s borders with Iraq and Jordan following a rebel operation that cleared ISIS out of the area.
On Tuesday, the State Department released aerial images of Saydnaya military prison outside of Damascus and other “newly declassified information,” accusing the Syrian government of building and operating a crematorium at the detention center “to cover up the extent of mass murders taking place.” In February, Amnesty International released a report claiming that between 5,000 and 13,000 detainees were executed at Saydnaya during the first five years of the conflict, amounting to between 20 and 50 executions once or twice a week.
Also on Tuesday, the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced new sanctions on five Syrian people and five Syrian companies “in response to continued acts of violence committed by the Government of Syria.” Among them are President Bashar al-Assad’s cousins Ihab Makhlouf and Iyad Makhlouf and the Bustan charity, which OFAC said regime ally Rami Makhlouf used to create “a vast private network of militias and security-linked institutions … to support and augment Syrian military forces.”
Green Buses Leave Damascus: The last remaining rebels in Qaboun left the Damascus district on Sunday, concluding an agreement between rebels and government forces. Some were sent to rebel-held areas in northern Syria, while others fled to opposition-controlled areas of the Damascus suburbs.
In total, more than 3,000 rebel fighters and their families were bused out of Qaboun over the weekend, following evacuations last week in the adjacent districts of Tishreen and Barzeh.
Read our daily Executive Summaries

 

Chinese Human Rights Lawyer Admits To Being “Brainwashed”

By: Brian Kim
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia 

BEIJING, China – Chinese human rights lawyer, Xie Yang was brought up on charges of subversion in 2015. Initially, Xie maintained his innocence.

In recent court proceedings, Xie then altered his statement and plead guilty to charges of subversion and disrupting a court order. Xie stated he was “brainwashed” in Hong Kong and South Korea to promote western constitutionalism in China. Xie appeared in a video where he stated he had not been mistreated in custody by Chinese officials.

Xie’s trial was said to be open by the Chinese government. However, Western journalists and diplomats were denied entry. Many friends and supporters of Xie Yang reported that his confessions during trial appeared rehearsed.

Xie Yang and his wife, Chen Guiqui. Photo courtesy of New York Times.

Since President Xi Jinping took office, his government warns against Western ideals and the threat these ideals can have on national security.  Cases dealing with “land grab victims” and proponents of democratic reform are considered highly sensitive to government authorities in China. Recently, Xie Yang and several human rights lawyers were put on trial dealing with these issues.

Amnesty International has stated that the Chinese government wanted to use Xie Yang’s trial “to discredit his lawyers and the Western media.” The United Nations requested that Chinese authorities release all activists and attorneys being held in custody who have been accused of defending basic rights of Chinese citizens.

Xie Yang’s attorney, Chen Jiangang, who represented him throughout trial was also taken into custody, according to sources close to Xie Yang.

For more information, please see: 

BBC – China human rights lawyer Xie Yang ‘admits being brainwashed’ – 8 May, 2017

NYT – In Reversal, Chinese Lawyer Confesses, and Rights Groups Denounce His Trial – 8, May 2017

Reuters – China begins trial of rights lawyer for ‘subversion of state power’ – 8 May, 2017