Moscow won't leave enlargement of U.S. sanctions unanswered - Foreign Ministry
MOSCOW. Dec 30 (Interfax) - The U.S.' decision to extend the so-called Magnitsky List calls into question Russian-U.S. bilateral cooperation on Iran and Syria, and Moscow will not leave this unanswered, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in a commentary available on the ministry website on Tuesday.
"The U.S.' actions are calling into question the prospects of bilateral cooperation in settling the situation surrounding the Iranian nuclear program, the crisis in Syria, and other urgent international problems. As Washington could have understood already, we have not left and will not leave such unfriendly attacks unanswered," Lukashevich said.
"The inclusion of four Russian government officials in the so-called Sergei Magnitsky List has been dictated by purely political motives rather than concerns about the fate of the lawyer, who died tragically. Washington is once again openly putting into play double standards by leveling human rights criticism against us and at the same time is turning a blind eye to a human rights situation in the U.S. itself, which is far from being exemplary," he said.
"The groundless imposition of restrictions on Russian legal entities based on the U.S. legislation on sanctions related to Iran and Syria, including in violation of obligations to us taken on by the Barack Obama administration, does not stand up to criticism, either. The U.S. is stubbornly trying to apply its own laws to the entire world and dictate its terms to everyone," Lukashevich said.
"However, such pressure methods won't work with Russia," it said.
It was reported earlier that the U.S. Department of the Treasury had extended the so-called Magnitsky List by adding four other Russian citizens to it.
In particular, First Deputy Chechen Interior Minister Apti Alaudinov, Chechen republic government secretariat chief Magomed Daudov, and also Victor Grin and Andrei Strizhov have been put on the Magnitsky List. The latter two people's official positions were not indicated.
Hermitage Capital lawyer Sergei Magnitsky accused of tax evasion died at a pretrial detention facility in 2009. Magnitsky's co-workers claimed that he had been arrested after exposing corruption schemes in which some Russian officials had been involved.
About two years ago, U.S. President Barack Obama signed into law the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012, tying it to the annulment of the Jackson-Vanik Amendment. The Magnitsky Act imposes visa and financial sanctions on Russian officials who, as Washington believes, are responsible for Magnitsky's death and other human rights abuses.
Russian Deputy Prosecutor General Viktor Grin endorsed the indictment against Magnitsky.
Some media outlets had reported earlier with reference to Hermitage Capital that investigator Andrei Strizhov had refused to investigate actions by Federal Corrections Service officials who sanctioned decisions on transferring Magnitsky from one cell to another and from one detention facility to another.