Justice for Sergei Magnitsky: William Browder Will Testify at the British Parliament on Details of a Russian Luxury Spending Spree in London of Money Connected to Crime Uncovered by Sergei Magnitsky

3 May 2016 – Today, at 3 pm, William Browder, leader of the global “Justice for Sergei Magnitsky” campaign, will testify in front of the UK Parliament’s Home Affairs Committee about the Russian money laundering in the UK and the implementation of the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Mr Browder will reveal results of a six-year long investigation into the money laundering and proceeds of corruption exposed by Sergei Magnitsky, which led to Magnitsky’s arrest, torture and murder in Russian police custody at the age of 37.

The information will include detailed descriptions of luxury purchases in London and surrounding counties totalling US$30 million connected to the money laundering network uncovered thanks to Sergei Magnitsky.

This investigation was assisted by Alexander Perepilichnyy, a Russian whistleblower who came forward after Sergei Magnitsky’s death and provided bank statements leading to more than US$15 million being frozen by Swiss Prosecutor General in a separate Swiss money laundering investigation. Perepilichnyy died in November 2012 in suspicious circumstances in front of his home in Weybridge, Surrey at the age of 44.

The investigation into the Magnitsky case has recently revealed a connection of the proceeds from the crime Sergei Magnitsky uncovered to the ‘Panama Papers,’ and specifically to Sergei Roldugin, President Putin’s long-time friend and cellist.

For more information, please contact:

Justice for Sergei Magnitsky

+44 207 440 1777

e-mail: info@lawandorderinrussia.org

www.lawandorderinrussia.org

Justice for Sergei Magnitsky: New Call for EU Magnitsky Sanctions by Leaders of EU Parliament Political Parties After Botched Anti Magnitsky Propoganda Event

2 May 2016  – Fol­low­ing the anti-Magnitsky event held at the Euro­pean par­lia­ment last Wednes­day, and attended by Rus­sians included on Euro­pean Parliament’s sanc­tions list, today lead­ing mem­bers of the Euro­pean Par­lia­ment have called on Fed­er­ica Mogherini, EU’s for­eign affairs chief, to imple­ment Mag­nit­sky sanc­tions in Europe.

 

The call on Fed­er­ica Mogherini, in charge of EU’s for­eign pol­icy, is signed by Elmar Brok, Chair­man of the Euro­pean Par­lia­ment Com­mit­tee on For­eign Affairs,  Rebecca Harms, pres­i­dent of The Greens – Euro­pean Free Alliance group, Guy Ver­hof­s­tadt, chair of the Alde Group, and other mem­bers of the Euro­pean par­lia­ment fromEPP, ECR, S&D, Alde, and Greens/EFA polit­i­cal groups.

 

Two years ago, on 2 April 2014,  the Euro­pean Par­lia­ment adopted a res­o­lu­tion call­ing on the EU Coun­cil of Min­is­ters to sanc­tion 32 Russ­ian indi­vid­u­als, con­nected to the case of Sergei Mag­nit­sky and his killing in Russ­ian police cus­tody after expos­ing the US$230 mil­lion fraud.  Since then, no action was taken by Euro­pean Exter­nal Action Ser­vice. In Jan­u­ary 2015, Ms Mogherini advised the Euro­pean par­lia­men­tar­i­ans she did not think it was a good policy.

 

Last week, on 27 April 2016, a del­e­ga­tion of Rus­sians, includ­ing Pavel Kar­pov and Andrei Pavlov who are No 7 and No 15 on the Euro­pean Parliament’s Mag­nit­sky Sanc­tions Res­o­lu­tion list, attended an anti-Magnitsky event at the Euro­pean par­lia­ment in Brus­sels, which was widely cov­ered by Russ­ian media. The event was orga­nized by Heidi Hau­tala, MEP from Fin­land, to screen a defam­a­tory film about Sergei Mag­nit­sky pro­duced by her Russ­ian boyfriend, Andrei Nekrasov. The film falsely claims that Sergei Mag­nit­sky had not been beaten in cus­tody and had not named police offi­cers in his tes­ti­monies for their role in the fraud to steal US$230 mil­lion from the Russ­ian bud­get. Ms Hau­tala invited Andrei Pavlov and Pavel Kar­pov, two peo­ple on the 32-people sanc­tions list approved by the par­lia­ment, to attend the event.

 

“The pres­ence in the Euro­pean Par­lia­ment of two of these indi­vid­u­als, tar­geted by inter­na­tional sanc­tions, shows clearly the need for con­certed  EU action, and that HRVP Mogherini must finally bring the Mag­nit­sky sanc­tions to the Coun­cil for adop­tion,” said the state­ment by lead­ers of the Euro­pean Parliament.

 

“We, mem­bers of the Euro­pean Par­lia­ment, strongly protest against the fact that two indi­vid­u­als named on a Euro­pean Parliament’s sanc­tions list received access to and par­tic­i­pated in an event in the EP held on 27 April this year … which appears to be used as part of a broader cam­paign to dis­credit crit­ics of the Russ­ian lead­er­ship, both inside and out­side the coun­try, and to den­i­grate Sergey Magnitsky’s per­son­al­ity and his tragic death in a Russ­ian prison cell,” said lead­ers of the Euro­pean Parliament.

Pavel Kar­pov and Andrei Pavlov are No 7 and No 15 on the Euro­pean Parliament’s Mag­nit­sky list, which rec­om­mends the EU Coun­cil of Min­is­ters to impose visa sanc­tions and asset freezes on those who were involved in the crimes against Sergei Magnitsky.

#7: KARPOV, Pavel, born 27 August 1977;

#15: PAVLOV, Andrey (a.k.a. Pavlov, Andrei), born 7 August 1977;

P and H

Andrei Pavlov greet­ing Heidi Hau­tala, MEP, 27 April 2016

 

 

For more infor­ma­tion, please contact:

 

Jus­tice for Sergei Magnitsky

+44 207 440 1777

e-mail: info@lawandorderinrussia.org

www.lawandorderinrussia.org

www.facebook.com/russianuntouchables

Syrian Network for Human Rights: The Governmental and Russian Forces burn Aleppo Province

The Governmental and Russian Forces burn Aleppo Province

“The Red Death”

burn Aleppo Province

I. Introduction:
The neighborhoods of Aleppo Province, which is under the control of the armed opposition factions, witnessed daily bombardment by Syrian and Russian forces, and that one day after the declaration of the supreme body to postpone their participation in the Geneva negotiations held on the 19th of last April.
Many political declarations contributed in saying that the presence of the “Al Nosra” in Aleppo had contributed to the increase of violence and cruelty of those attacks. However, even with the presence of “Al Nosra” or even ISIL or any armed organization, does not justify randomly bombing targets of the city which is located within the control of any military faction and without taking into account the distinction between military and civilian people. Moreover, the violations targeted greatest goals-mentioned in the report- which were never military headquarters, and not even close to military headquarters. It is also relatively far from the lines of the clash, thus, no military value is found. We refer to the names of the victims and their pictures, women and children in addition to the families’ talks.

The report pointed out that the Governmental Forces are still using explosive barrels devices that are thrown from the sky and based on the principle of free fall. This is considered as indiscriminate weapon par excellence. We consider that every explosive barrel is a war crime, because it does not achieve any norm of international humanitarian law, and is still permitted in spite of Security Council resolutions, reports, and condemnations. The network recorded, during the period covered, around 86 explosive barrels on Aleppo city.
In this regard, Fadel Abdul Ghani, director of SNHR states:
“The responsibility for determining the places and the distributions of military sites for “Al Nosra” and ISIL exclusively, located mainly on the state sponsor of the Agreement on Cessation of Hostilities. We have referred to this in the first days of launching the statement of the agreement in order not to justify bombing any civilian target, easily, even if it is located in an area under Al Nosra or ISIL. The Syrian and the Russian Forces have exploited this gap, deliberately, in the agreement and justified killing of hundreds of civilians since the start of the statement so far.”

Syria Deeply Weekly Update: Aleppo is Burning: Civilians Under Fire

WEEKLY UPDATE
April 30, 2016
Dear Readers,Welcome to the weekly Syria Deeply newsletter. We’ve rounded up the most important stories and developments about Syria and the Syrians in order to bring you valuable news and analysis.

Aleppo is Burning: Civilians Under Fire

Government airstrikes on the opposition-held neighborhoods of Aleppo have targeted hospitals, mosques, bakeries and rescue workers over the past week, as violence in the city escalates to levels not seen in months.
In this image made from video and posted online from Validated UGC, a man carries a child after airstrikes hit an opposition-held neighborhood in Aleppo on Thursday, April 28, 2016. Validated UGC via AP video

Daraa Rebels to ‘Finish Off’ Rumored ISIS Affiliates

After repelling an offensive led by two hardline Islamist groups thought to have ties to ISIS, rebels outside the southern city of Daraa are preparing to “finish off” what they see as a possible ISIS attempt to open another front in the wartorn country.
Syrian rebel fighters aim their weapons at the entrance of a building in Aleppo as they wait for government forces to appear on Wednesday, Dec. 05, 2012 (AP Photo/Narciso Contreras)

Exposing Government Thugs as They Flee to Europe

Independent journalists and volunteer activists have launched an online hunt to track down and expose former militiamen accused of committing crimes during Syria’s war as they head to Europe to seek asylum.
A Syrian man cries while holding the body of his son, killed by the Syrian army, near Dar El Shifa Hospital in Aleppo, in Oct. 2012. (AP Photo/Manu Brabo)