Motion for a resolution | Doc. 12909 | 24 April 2012

Refusing impunity for the killers of Sergei Magnitsky

Signatories: Mr Pieter OMTZIGT, Netherlands, EPP/CD ; Ms Tina ACKETOFT, Sweden, ALDE ; Mr Pedro AGRAMUNT, Spain, EPP/CD ; Lord Donald ANDERSON, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Mörður ÁRNASON, Iceland, SOC ; Mr Lennart AXELSSON, Sweden, SOC ; Ms Þuriður BACKMAN, Iceland, UEL ; Mr Josep Anton BARDINA PAU, Andorra, ALDE ; Ms Doris BARNETT, Germany, SOC ; Mr Marek BOROWSKI, Poland, SOC ; Mr Tor BREMER, Norway, SOC ; Mr André BUGNON, Switzerland, ALDE ; Mr Mikael CEDERBRATT, Sweden, EPP/CD ; Ms Lolita ČIGĀNE, Latvia, EPP/CD ; Mr Boriss CILEVIČS, Latvia, SOC ; Mr Michael CONNARTY, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Paolo CORSINI, Italy, SOC ; Ms Viola von CRAMON-TAUBADEL, Germany, SOC ; Mr Joseph DEBONO GRECH, Malta, SOC ; Mr Gvozden Srećko FLEGO, Croatia, SOC ; Mr György FRUNDA, Romania, EPP/CD ; Mr Jean-Charles GARDETTO, Monaco, EPP/CD ; Mr Jonas GUNNARSSON, Sweden, SOC ; Ms Ana GUŢU, Republic of Moldova, ALDE ; Mr Gábor HARANGOZÓ, Hungary, SOC ; Mr Håkon HAUGLI, Norway, SOC ; Mr Serhiy HOLOVATY, Ukraine, ALDE ; Mr Michael Aastrup JENSEN, Denmark, ALDE ; Mr Mats JOHANSSON, Sweden, EPP/CD ; Ms Inese LĪBIŅA-EGNERE, Latvia, EPP/CD ; Ms Sophie LØHDE, Denmark, ALDE ; Ms Lone LOKLINDT, Denmark, ALDE ; Ms Kerstin LUNDGREN, Sweden, ALDE ; Mr Arminas LYDEKA, Lithuania, ALDE ; Mr Dirk Van der MAELEN, Belgium, SOC ; Ms Nicole MANZONE-SAQUET, Monaco, EPP/CD ; Mr Pietro MARCENARO, Italy, SOC ; Ms Christine MARIN, France, EPP/CD ; Ms Meritxell MATEU PI, Andorra, ALDE ; Mr Frano MATUŠIĆ, Croatia, EPP/CD ; Ms Liliane MAURY PASQUIER, Switzerland, SOC ; Sir Alan MEALE, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Jerzy MONTAG, Germany, SOC ; Mr João Bosco MOTA AMARAL, Portugal, EPP/CD ; Mr Gebhard NEGELE, Liechtenstein, EPP/CD ; Mr Joseph O'REILLY, Ireland, EPP/CD ; Ms Elsa PAPADIMITRIOU, Greece, EPP/CD ; Ms Jaana PELKONEN, Finland, EPP/CD ; Mr Johannes PFLUG, Germany, SOC ; Mr John Paul PHELAN, Ireland, EPP/CD ; Ms Marietta de POURBAIX-LUNDIN, Sweden, EPP/CD ; Mr Ivan RAČAN, Croatia, SOC ; Ms Mette REISSMANN, Denmark, SOC ; Ms Maria de Belém ROSEIRA, Portugal, SOC ; Ms Marlene RUPPRECHT, Germany, SOC ; Mr Ludo SANNEN, Belgium, SOC ; Ms Ingjerd SCHOU, Norway, EPP/CD ; Ms Marina SCHUSTER, Germany, ALDE ; Mr Jim SHERIDAN, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Gunnar Bragi SVEINSSON, Iceland, ALDE ; Lord John E. TOMLINSON, United Kingdom, SOC ; Ms Anette TRETTEBERGSTUEN, Norway, SOC ; Ms Ester TUIKSOO, Estonia, ALDE ; Mr Egidijus VAREIKIS, Lithuania, EPP/CD ; Mr Stefaan VERCAMER, Belgium, EPP/CD ; Ms Anne-Mari VIROLAINEN, Finland, EPP/CD ; Ms Nataša VUČKOVIĆ, Serbia, SOC ; Mr Johann WADEPHUL, Germany, EPP/CD ; Mr Jordi XUCLÀ, Spain, ALDE

This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only those who have signed it.

The Parliamentary Assembly considers that the case of the Russian whistleblower Sergei Magnitsky demands continued attention from the international community.

Mr Magnitsky was killed at the end of 2009 while in pretrial detention in Moscow after he refused to change his testimony against corrupt officials. Those officials had committed large-scale fraud against the Russian state which they tried to blame on Mr Magnitsky’s client, Hermitage Capital.

The conspiracy leading to Mr Magnitsky’s death was exposed by journalists and investigated by the Presidential Human Rights Council and other civil society bodies, which concluded in the summer of 2011 that a number of named officials were indeed apparently responsible for this crime.

According to investigators, following the events in question, the officials concerned acquired luxury properties and other assets whose value far exceeds what they could afford on their salaries as public servants.

The competent authorities have nevertheless failed to properly investigate and prosecute those responsible for Mr Magnitsky’s death. Instead, they have continued to accuse Mr Magnitsky, even seeking to prosecute him posthumously.

The fight against corruption and abuses by law enforcement bodies is a stated priority of the political leadership of the Russian Federation. Holding the perpetrators and organisers of the crime against Mr Magnitsky to account would send a strong signal that Russia means business in this fight.

The Assembly first raised its voice against the abuses committed against Mr Magnitsky in October 2009, when Mr Magnitsky was still alive. For the sake of its own credibility and that of the Russian Federation, the Assembly should now engage in co-operation with Russia, through the preparation of a dedicated report, in order to fully elucidate this landmark case.