Russian Interior Ministry Produces False Information to Assist one Officer in Attempt to Get Off of New U.S. Magnitsky List

Russian Interior Ministry Produces False Information to Assist one Officer in Attempt to Get Off of NewU.S. Magnitsky List

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Russian Interior Ministry Produces False Information to Assist one Officer in Attempt to Get Off of NewU.S. Magnitsky List

23 May 2014 – Yesterday, the Moscow branch of the Russian Interior Ministry responded to the inclusion of its official Andrei Krechetov in the U.S. Magnitsky List with a statement claiming that he did not have direct role in the Magnitsky’s case.

On 20 May 2014, the U.S. Treasury published an addition to the Magnitsky List, which included 10 Russians with personal involvement in the Magnitsky case, including the Interior Ministry official Andrei Krechetov.

On 22 May 2014, the Russian Interior Ministry’s branch in Moscow responded by making a statement to Russian news agency Interfax that officer Krechetov “did not have a direct relationship” towards investigating the Magnitsky case, and “only performed separate orders”.

In fact, officer Krechetov was a member of the investigative team on the case against Sergei Magnitsky, he personally performedthe search of Magnitsky’s home and detained him, and signed false reports used to justify Magnitsky’s arrest and continued detention.

The evidence of his involvement in the Magnitsky case include a 14 November 2008 report signed by officer Krechetov claimingthat he delivered a summons to Magnitsky, when such summons was never issued or delivered. (http://followmydata.net/SMRULE/D1251.pdf). Officer Krechetov signed a similar report on 17 November 2008.

A 24 November 2008 search on Magnitsky’s home where officer Krechetov took part in the search and where Magnitsky was detained is another record of his direct involvement in Magnitsky’s case (see Krechetov’s name in the copy of the search protocol).

In the summer of 2009, following the discovery of false reports signed by officer Krechetov, Magnitsky’s lawyers demanded that officer Krechetov be removed from the case, but their request was denied by senior officials of the Russian Interior Ministry.

In Sergei Magnitsky’s testimony given one month before his murder in Matrosskaya Tishina detention center, he highlighted the role of Interior Ministry officers, including officer Krechetov, in fabricating reports against him as part of his persecution. Magnitsky stated that his persecution was organised in revenge for his role in exposing the criminal group (which involved officer Krechetov), that stole Hermitage Fund’s Russian companies and $230 million.

Mr Krechetov’s colleagues in the Interior Ministry who took part with him in the persecution of Magnitsky – Artem Kuznetsov, Dmitry Tolchinksy and Aleksei Droganov – were sanctioned by the US government last year under the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act.

“The continued cover up in Russia necessitates that all countries who respect human rights adopt targeted sanctions on Russian officials involved in Magnitsky case, similar to the ones implemented by the US government, with no delay,” said a Hermitage Capital representative.

 

For more information, please contact:

Hermitage Capital
Justice for Sergei Magnitsky program

+44 207 440 1777
info@lawandorderinrussia.org
http://lawandorderinrussia.org

Magnitsky List published by the U.S. Treasury on 20 May 2014:
http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/OFAC-Enforcement/Pages/20140520.aspx

North Carolina Bill To Make Revealing Fracking Secrets a Felony

Brandon R. Cottrell
Senior Desk Officer, North America

WASHINGTON, D.C., United States of America – A proposed bill in North Carolina, the Energy Modernization Act, if passed, would charge any individual (with an exception for emergency first responders) with a felony if they publicly disclosed trade secret protected information regarding fracking chemicals.

A proposed North Carolina bill would make the non-authorized disclosure of fracking trade secrets a felony (Photo Courtesy News Week).

Fracking is a procedure where fractures are created in rock formations by injecting high-pressure mixtures of chemicals and fluid; once the fractures are opened, natural gas can then be extracted.  Though not currently legal in North Carolina, legislation aims to legalize the process next year.

Environmental groups claim that the mixture of chemicals and fluid are potentially hazardous and could thus contaminate groundwater and wells serving nearby homes and farms.  Much is still unknown about the health effects, but according to a report issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, at least four individuals that worked at fracking sites have died due to “acute chemical exposure.”

However, proponents have refuted such claims and tout fracking as an environmentally sound alternative.  Additionally, proponents have stated that fracking will create jobs and provide cheap and reliable energy.

According to Hannah Wiseman, a Florida State University law professor who studies fracking laws, “the felony provision is far stricter than most states’ provisions in terms of the penalty for violating trade secrets.”  Depending on the offender’s prior criminal history, a violation of this law would be punishable by up to a year in prison or community service.

Derb Carter, the director for the Southern Environmental Law Center believes that the proposed law is “intended to protect polluters and keep neighbors in the dark.”  Carter has additionally stated that the “[real] crime should be allowing corporations to pump toxic chemicals underground without public disclosure of those chemicals.”

 

For further information, please see the following:

Business Week – NC Legislative Committees Ok Gas Fracking Bill – 21-May-2014

Huffington Post – North Carolina Legislators Advance Fracking Bill That Would Block Chemical Disclosure – 21-May-2014

MSNBC – North Carolina Could Make Disclosing Fracking Chemicals A Felony -21-May-2014

News Week – North Carolina Bill Would Make Revealing Fracking Secrets a Felony – 20-May-2014

 

Russia and China Veto Resolution to Refer Syria Crisis to International Criminal Court

By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL, United Nations Headquarters – On Thursday Russia and China exercised their veto power as permanent members of the Security Council by vetoing a resolution to refer the crisis in Syria to the International Criminal Court for possible prosecution of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by actors on both sides of the conflict during the country’s three-year civil war. The remaining 13 members of the United Nations Security Council voted in favor of the resolution.

 

Syrian search the rubble of destroyed buildings following an airstrike carried out by regime forces March 2014 (Photo Courtesy of Amnesty International)

More than 60 UN Member states have signed on to support the French-drafted measure before the vote was held, Gerard Araud, the French Ambassador to the United Nations said that a potential veto would “cover up all crimes. A veto, he said, would be “vetoing justice.”

The resolution would have condemned the “widespread violation” of human rights and international humanitarian law by both Syrian officials and non-state armed groups over the past three years and would have referred Syria’s crisis to the world’s permanent war crimes tribunal for investigation of possible war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The veto’s marked the fourth time Russia, a close ally of the Assad Regime, has used its power as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council to block resolutions related to the Syrian Civil War which has left more than 150,000 people dead over the past three years.

Prior to the vote, Vitaly Churkin, Russia’s Ambassador to the United Nations, questioned why the resolution was put to a vote. He told the press that his counties shares the “emotions” shared by the states who supported the resolution bud said that his country’s vote would be “boringly predictable” and claimed the resolution was a “publicity stunt.” Churkin told the Security Council “the draft resolution rejected today reveals an attempt to use the ICC to further inflame political passions and lay the groundwork in the end for eventual outside military intervention.”

The Chinese Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations, Wang Min, defended his country’s veto saying that Beijing had reservations about the council referring conflicts to the International Criminal Court.

In response to the veto British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant criticized the action saying “It is to Russia and China’s shame that they have chosen to block efforts to achieve justice for the Syrian people.”

Samantha Power, the United States’ Ambassador to the United Nations also condemned the veto saying the victims of the deadly conflict “deserve to have history record those who stood with them and those who were willing to raise their hands to deny them a chance at justice.”

After the vote Powers addressed the council condemning the veto and asking how future generations will judge the way the international community has responded to the three year crisis. She said; “our grandchildren will ask us years from now how we could have failed to bring justice to people living in hell on earth.”

For more information please see:

ABC News – Russia, China Veto UN Move to Refer Syria to ICC – 22 May 2014

CNN International – Russia, China Block Syria from Facing International Criminal Court – 22 May

Amnesty International – UN: Russian and Chinese Vetoes of Syria ICC Resolution ‘Callous’ – 22 May 2014

The Guardian – Russia and China Veto UN Move to Refer Syria to International Criminal Court – 22 May 2014