Hermitage Capital hopes U.S. Magnitsky bill will fuel similar moves in other countries
MOSCOW. June 7 (Interfax) - A spokesman for British investment fund Hermitage Capital expressed confidence that Thursday's preliminary approval in the U.S. Congress of a planned law to slap visa and financial sanctions on Russian officials blamed for Sergei Magnitsky's death would be an impulse to similar legislative measures in other countries.
The Justice for Sergei Magnitsky bill was endorsed by the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the U.S. House of Representatives.
"The serious support for the Magnitsky draft law by the American lawmakers will undoubtedly give a new impulse to similar legislative initiatives that are under consideration today in other countries, including European Union countries," the Hermitage spokesman told Interfax.
"The passage of the Magnitsky bill will be a catalyst in Russia's further movement toward democracy and will seriously curb lawlessness on the part of officials and corruption," he said.
"Officials will no longer be able to keep abroad what they have stolen, they will be unable to get their children enrolled in prestigious foreign universities," the spokesman said. The Justice for Magnitsky Act "will also support those who today take to the streets to protest lawlessness on the part of law enforcement and judicial bodies."
