Former Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov’s fall from grace is a thread that has unraveled a culture of corruption inside the Russian government. The case also led to the imprisonment, death, and postmortem conviction of Sergei Magnitsky, a case that has set off significant international complications. It began when Serdyukov cheated on his wife with Yevegeniya […]
Tag: Sergei Magnitsky
What Will Moscow’s Election Matter if Navalny Loses?
On September 8th, this upcoming Sunday, Moscow will pick its next mayor. No Russian election in many years has attracted as much national and international buzz as this race. Sergei Sobyanin, the acting mayor and a member of Putin’s party United Russia was facing serious political challenge in the upstart blogger-turned-politician Alexei Navalny. Navalny is […]
Human Rights Watch Slams Russia (and Snowden)
Edward Snowden is a man who gave up the life he had in order to “blow the whistle” on the work of the National Security Agency (NSA). The NSA programs that have been exposed in the process have raised serious concerns about secret surveillance programs and internet spying. Many rights groups, free speech advocates, and […]
“Totalizer”
Vladimir Pastukhov writes an essay for Novaya Gazeta, a liberal newspaper, on how Putin is not the driver of creeping totalitarianism, but Russia is pushing Putin down that path. It is worth noting that four Novaya Gazeta journalists have been assassinated in eight years. – Ed. Standing on the edge of the Russian abyss, they […]
The UK is Granting Russia ‘License to Kill’
In what resembles a real-world James Bond plot gone wrong, a former Russian agent-turned-dissident was killed in 2006 while in England. Alexander Litvinenko, a former FSB secret service member, died of Polonium-210 poisoning after moved to the UK following his disclosure that the FSB was engaged in assassinations, had ties to the mob, conducted terrorist […]
How Putin Uses Money Laundering Charges to Control His Opponents
Last Thursday, Sergei Magnitsky was convicted of tax evasion. The only problem was he was not there to hear the verdict read. Magnitsky was killed in Moscow’s Butyrka prison in 2009, likely as a result of beatings and a lack of medical treatment. His crime was uncovering a $230 million tax fraud involving members of […]
Russia, Where You Can Prosecute a Ghost
The tweet containing the picture above says it all: Oh,Russia.Where you can prosecute a ghost.MT @YuliaSkyNews Cameras film empty Magnitsky cage. Defendant long dead pic.twitter.com/45xBlr9TVa — Amie Ferris-Rotman (@Amie_FR) July 11, 2013 Today, Russian courts found deceased investment fund lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, guilty of tax evasion, along with his former client, William Browder (tried in absentia). […]
Open Letter on the Case of Sergei Magnitsky
To the Chairman of the Council of Judges of the Russian Federation Dmitry Anatolyevich Krasnov From Natalya Nikolayevna Magnitskaya 07 June 2013 Open Letter on the Case of Sergei Magnitsky Dear Dmitry Anatolevich, From media reports, I have learned that on 22 April 2013, the Council of Judges of the City of Moscow issued a […]
Interior and Justice Ministers Meet with Officials in Magnitsky List
[Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev and Justice Minister Aleksandr Konovalov met on April 27 with their employees who have been included in the so-called Magnitsky List. The list includes 18 judges and representatives of law-enforcement and other government agencies whom American authorities believe are complicit in the death in pre-trial detention at Matrosskaya Tishina Prison of […]
Epistles, S-300s, Warrants and Gay Rights
Here are some of the biggest Russia-focused stories from the past week: – In the wake of the Ryan Fogle spy debacle, and the endless debate on Syria, Obama and Putin have reverted to the 19th-century method of writing courier-delivered letters to each other instead of picking up a phone to discuss bilateral relations. According […]