*April 26, 2010 — Today, U.S. Senator Benjamin Cardin, Chairman of the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, called for the immediate imposition of permanent visa sanctions against more than 60 Russian officials who took part in the corrupt scheme to steal 5.4 billion rubles, uncovered by lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, and who arrested him on fabricated charges and subjected him to torture that led to his death in pretrial detention. Senator Cardin called for the United States to "immediately revoke and permanently deny entry visas to all persons involved in the above-mentioned crimes, as well as to their close family members." The list of officials who should be sanctioned includes senior officers from the Interior Ministry, the FSB (Russia’s Federal Security Service), the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Federal Tax Service, the courts, and detention centers. Among them are: * *- Alexei Anichin, head of the Interior Ministry’s Investigative Committee, who is responsible for concealing Sergei Magnitsky’s testimony about the role of Interior Ministry officers in the theft of 5.4 billion rubles in budget funds and for organizing the persecution of Magnitsky on fabricated charges, Viktor Grin, Deputy Prosecutor General, responsible for shutting down the investigation into the actions of Interior Ministry officers exposed by Sergei Magnitsky as being involved in the theft of 5.4 billion rubles in budget funds, and who authorized the criminal prosecution of only a single sawmill worker,* - Viktor Voronin, Deputy Head of the FSB’s Economic Security Department, who authorized the opening of a fabricated criminal case that was used to steal 5.4 billion rubles in budget funds and under which the original ownership documents of Hermitage Fund’s Russian companies were seized without proper authorization. *Other officials who should be barred from entering the United States include: Senior officials of the Interior Ministry’s Investigative Committee: Matveev, Vinogradova, Karlov, and Logunov (now working in the Prosecutor General’s Office); Interior Ministry investigators and officers: Silchenko, Kuznetsov, Karpov, Oleinik, Urzhumtsev, Sapunova, Budilo, Glukhov; Prosecutor General’s Office officials Mazhaev, Pechegin, and Burov; Investigator Gordievsky of the Southern Administrative District Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee under the Prosecutor’s Office in Moscow; Heads of Moscow Tax Inspectorates No. 25 and No. 28, Khimina and Stepanova; Heads of the Matrosskaya Tishina and Butyrka pretrial detention centers (Prokopenko and Komnov); Judges Krivoruchko, Podoprigorov, Stashina, Ukhnaleva, Fillipova, Korneeva, Zinurova, Yushkov, Kim, and others.* If this works, it will of course be a tremendous blow. How will they get to Miami now, to their condominiums? And where the U.S. goes, Europe follows. They’ll have to vacation in Kyrgyzstan instead — apparently things have gotten much better there lately. Below is the full text of the letter. April 26, 2010 The Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton Secretary of State Washington, D.C. 20520 Dear Secretary Clinton: I am writing to urge you to immediately revoke U.S. visas for a number of Russian officials and other individuals who are involved in large-scale corruption in that country and who bear responsibility for the torture and death in pretrial detention last year of Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer who stood up to corruption and gave testimony against these officials. While there are many aspects of this case that cannot be investigated in the United States, one thing that can be done is to bar from entering our country those implicated in this crime, as well as their family members. The United States has a clear policy of denying entry to persons involved in corruption, and it is critically important that the response of the U.S. Department of State in this matter be immediate. By way of brief background, on June 23, 2009, the U.S. Helsinki Commission heard testimony from Hermitage Capital CEO William Browder regarding crimes committed by senior officers of Russia’s Interior Ministry together with other officials and certain private-sector individuals. These crimes, exposed by Hermitage lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, involved the fraudulent refund from the Russian state budget of 5.4 billion rubles (US$230 million) and the transfer of these stolen funds into the accounts of a criminal group. From the testimony presented by Mr. Browder, we learned of Sergei Magnitsky’s terrible fate after he exposed this crime and decided to testify against the Interior Ministry officers involved. One month after giving testimony, Mr. Magnitsky was arrested in his Moscow apartment in front of his wife and two young children by a group of Interior Ministry officers subordinate to the very same officials against whom Sergei had previously testified. In the time since those hearings, the situation has ended in tragedy. As noted in the U.S. Department of State’s 2009 Human Rights Report on Russia, Sergei Magnitsky was tortured in an effort to force him to change his testimony and falsely incriminate himself and his client. His detailed letters from pretrial detention describe the inhuman conditions in which he was held for nearly a full year, while his case was never heard on the merits in court. During his detention, he developed gallstones and pancreatitis, yet he was denied any medical care because he refused to change his testimony. On the night of November 16, 2009, he died before ever making it to trial. After Sergei Magnitsky’s death, the Russian authorities refused his relatives permission to conduct an independent autopsy into the causes of his death, stating that Sergei had died of natural causes. Members of the independent Moscow Public Oversight Commission, which monitors human rights in places of detention, concluded that Magnitsky’s death was "deliberate," describing it as a murder carried out through torture by officials and detention center management. Soon after his death, several prison chiefs were dismissed, but no one was criminally punished either for the torture and death of Sergei Magnitsky or for participation in the corruption he exposed. Although our government is limited in its means of direct influence, we can take concrete steps to ensure the denial of entry visas to the United States for those public officials and other persons responsible for this crime. As you know, the United States follows a policy of barring foreign nationals involved in corruption from visiting our country, and the Department of State is authorized by the President to carry out this task pursuant to Presidential Proclamation No. 7750 of January 12, 2004 ("To Suspend Entry as Immigrants or Nonimmigrants of Persons Engaged in or Benefiting from Corruption"). Sergei Magnitsky’s colleagues and legal defense team have provided the U.S. Helsinki Commission with a list of persons involved in the fraudulent theft of 5.4 billion rubles (US$230 million) in budget funds, and in the torture and subsequent death of Sergei Magnitsky. The list includes officers of the Interior Ministry, the FSB, the Federal Tax Service, the arbitrazh courts (commercial courts), the Prosecutor General’s Office, and the Federal Penitentiary Service, along with detailed descriptions of their roles in the crimes committed. In light of the above, I ask that you immediately revoke and permanently deny U.S. entry visas to all persons involved in the above-mentioned crimes, as well as to their close family members. This measure will partly restore justice for the late Sergei Magnitsky and his family, and will send an important signal to corrupt officials in Russia and elsewhere that the United States takes seriously the fight against corruption and the harm it causes. It will also help protect American companies operating in Russia, which risk becoming victims of similar schemes in the future. Sincerely, Benjamin Cardin, U.S. Senator Chairman