Sergei Magnitsky names the law applied against the Supreme Court Minister (STF) Alexandre de Moraes
Sergei Magnitsky names the law applied against the Supreme Court Minister (STF). The lawyer was arrested in 2008 after denouncing fraud of Russian authorities and died almost a year later in prison.
Who was Sergei Magnitsky
Magnitsky was a tax lawyer who exposed a fraud of members of the Russian Interior Ministry. He worked for a foreign investment fund: Hermitage Capital Management, whose owner, Briton William F. Browder, conflicted with Russian authorities.
Magnitsky worked as a lawyer for Hermigate when he was arrested. Authorities accused the company of not paying about $ 17.4 million in taxes.
Browder was Russia’s largest foreign investor until 2005, when he was entry to the country denied. To defend himself in the case, he hired Sergei. At the time, the Russian government claimed that the investor was a threat to national security.
Sergei reported a $ 230 million deviation from the Russian authorities. He was then arrested in 2008 on charges of fiscal evasion by the government.
Magnitsky died in prison in 2009 at the age of 37 after 11 months in custody. He was detained in the prison of Matrosskaya Tishina in Moscow and left his wife and two children.
The Russian government said at the time that he died of heart failure. However, the Kremlin Human Rights Council raised suspicions that he was beaten to death.
Sergei would not have received adequate medical care in prison, reports. The authorities, however, denied that the lawyer had warned of his health problems.
Even after being killed, Magnitsky was convicted with his former client, Browder. The businessman who has British citizenship, even though he was born in the US, sought justice outside Russia.
Browder asked foreign governments to apply visa prohibitions and freezing assets for violators of human rights and corrupt staff. He was sentenced to nine years in prison in Russia and has since been an activist in the human rights.
Magnitsky Law: What is and why Moraes was targeted?
Approved in 2012 and expanded in 2016, Magnitsky Law allows the US to apply unilateral sanctions against foreigners accused of severe corruption or systematic human rights violations. Punishments include blocking goods on American soil, release of accounts and other transactions through the US financial system, as well as prohibition of entry into the country. There is no need for judicial proceedings – a decision of the Executive based on reports or documents from international organizations, press and testimonies.
The act was also created in the Obama government in response to Magnitsky’s death. The legislation emerged as an instrument to punish those involved in the case.
The law enforcement against Minister Alexandre de Moraes gained body after Eduardo Bolsonaro’s trip to the United States. The deputy tried to convince Republican parliamentarians to adopt sanctions against the minister based on magnitsky law. The performance was seen as part of a strategy to internationalize the political clash and to pressure the Brazilian judiciary with external support.
Elon Musk, among other conservative names, have been defending law enforcement against Moraes ever since. The suggestion, however, is seen by experts in international law as a distortion of the legislation.
In practice, the minister is in danger of losing cards issued by US banks, having access to payments for Google Pay and Apple Pay blocked, and is monitored by American companies – as Google – to ensure that it is not surrounding sanctions, according to the legislation. American companies and citizens are prevented from negotiating with Moraes, but there is no sanction for international people or entities.
According to the text of the American legislation itself, sanctions apply to those responsible for extrajudicial executions, torture, arbitrary arrests, forced disappearances and other flagrant violations of rights to life, freedom and security. The definition of “serious violations” is anchored in international treaties and requires systematic conduct. Agents may also be punished who repress allegations of corruption or prevent the work of journalists and rights advocates.
Sanctions may be imposed based on non -judicial evidence, but need plausible grounds. The measure is executive and involves the State Department, the Treasury Department and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the body responsible for including names in the so -called SDN List, which blocks access to the US financial system.
There have been precedents against members of the judiciary, but only in authoritarian regimes. The law was used against Russian magistrates and against Turkey and Hong Kong authorities in cases involving political persecution, fraudulent judgments or institutionalized state repression.