Moscow - A veteran Russian human rights defender argued on Monday that Western governments might blacklist Russian officials who are involved in criminal proceedings against opposition activists who were arrested in connection with riots during a rally on Moscow's Bolotnaya Square on May 6.
“Political lists are emerging, and I’m sure that there will be a list in connection with the ‘Bolotnaya case,’ it’s being compiled and will be lobbied in the West due to the reprisals on Bolotnaya Square,” Lev Ponomaryov, leader of the For Human Rights group told a news conference.
He compared the potential Bolotnaya list to the United States’ list of Russian officials who are held responsible for the allegedly illegal arrest of Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer for British investment Fund Hermitage Capital who died in pretrial detention in Moscow in November 2009.
“My organization’s activities have for a long time included the defense of entrepreneurs, and I compile a list of people on every case. There is the ‘Sharov list’ – he got 14 years for alleged organization of murder, – such a list does exist, and it can be found on the Internet, and I’ve even written to the U.S. Congress about this. There also exists a ‘Valery Morozov list,'” Ponomaryov said.
Journalist Olga Romanova enthusiastically supported the creation of such lists.
“It’s a significant thing that law enforcement officials would end up on such a list. Probably, the better the crimes of such people are known, the more effectively will we be able to fight this system,” she said.
Yelena Panfilova, director of the anti-corruption studies center of Transparency International, complained at the news conference that there is no legal defense mechanism for those who report corruption.
“We believe that in principle no action against corruption is possible in the country without the defense of those who report it,” she said.
According to Panfilova, those who report corruption risk being be charged with fraud or having their company raided by law enforcement officers, with its output or bank accounts seized. Such a system is “an instrument,” she summed up.
Magnitsky was arrested on a tax evasion charge after accusing senior officials of stealing an equivalent of $230 million from the Russian state through a tax rebate scheme. A gravely sick man, he died in jail after being denied essential medical assistance. Rights activists say he was beaten by jail personnel.
The May 6 rally on Bolotnaya Square and an opposition procession that preceded it had been permitted by the authorities. The rally grew into clashes between its participants and police.
