Azerbaijan voted against draft resolution on ‘‘Magnitski case’’
Azerbaijani delegation opposed the draft resolution on Sergei Magnitsky case, which yesterday was approved by the committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).
As radio station "Echo of Moscow" writes on its website, a discussion on the Legal Affairs and Human Rights was held on the last Wednesday in PACE Committee. MEPs heard the report titled "Deny impunity for the killers of Magnitski," which was presented by the Swiss MP Andreas Gross. He led his own investigation within a year in London, Moscow, Kazan and Cyprus.
According to him, the lawyer died because of those officials whom Magnitsky accused of fraud.
The article notes that the final resolution was supported by the overwhelming majority of the committee members.
Representatives of Russia, Azerbaijan and Serbia were against. Alexei Pushkov, the head of Russian delegation, noted that the report involves the argumentations of William Browder, the head of Hermitage Fund, at the same time creating a "halo of a martyr" around the late Magnitsky, who created schemes of tax evasion.
On 14 December 2012 the law which was called "Magnitsky Act" came into force in the U.S. as soon as President Obama signed it. According to the law, a number of Russian officials involved in the death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, as the law authors believe, will be banned from entering the country. Besides, all their accounts in America will be frozen. The so-called "Magnitsky list" was formed by Senator Benjamin Cardin. Several dozens of people were included in the list, including top leadership of the Interior Ministry of Russian Federation, investigators and judges. Later, the Committee of the House of Representatives of the US Congress approved of the "Magnitsky Act" project on visa and financial sanctions against a group of Russian officials.