Khodorkovsky & Lebedev Communications Center

The Economist comments that the death in prison of Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer for Hermitage Capital Management, remains one of the darkest scandals in the history of Russia's criminal justice system, exemplifying a culture of impunity in which power and wealth are fungible, and those who get in the way get squashed.

Magnitsky died of untreated pancreatis in pre-trial detention. He had accused Russian officials of stealing millions of tax dollars paid by his client, Hermitage Capital Management.

The publication notes that lobbying by Bill Browder, Hermitage's head, now seems to be getting somewhere. Two senior American lawmakers, Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (a Democrat from Maryland), who is Chairman of the congressional Helsinki Commission and James P. McGovern (a Democratic congressman from Massachusetts), who chairs the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, have introduced laws that would prohibit some 60 odd Russian officials linked to his death from visiting the United States, and freeze any assets they hold under American jurisdiction.

Cardin said: "Nearly a year after Sergei's death, the leading figures in this scheme remain in power in Russia. It has become clear that if we expect any measure of justice in this case, we must act in the United States...At the least we can and should block these corrupt individuals from traveling and investing their ill-gotten money in our country."

McGovern said: "I have introduced the ‘Justice for Sergei Magnitsky Act of 2010' in the House of Representatives as a direct consequence of the compelling testimony at a hearing on human rights in the Russian Federation in the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. The death of this courageous whistleblower in a Russian prison is the consequence of an abysmal prison system and corruption aimed at defrauding the Russian Treasury of billions. We know about Sergei Magnitsky, and we know about Mikhail Khodorkovsky, but how many more Magnitskys and Khodorkovskys are currently suffering in Russian prisons? My bill addresses the root causes of these severe human rights violations -- the Russian prison system and official corruption. We should not rest until justice is achieved in Sergei's case, and the money is returned to its rightful owners -- the people of the Russian Federation."

The Economist comments that this will not set the Kremlin trembling. But increasing personal inconvenience for those involved in abuses of power is a potentially potent tactic.