Why this is happening?: A woman holds a sign with a picture of Sergei

Magnitsky, at an illegal rally against Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Dec 15.

The sign reads 'Dead in the battle against a system of theft.' After the

U.S. Congress passed the Magnitsky Bill, punishing Russian officials for

the death of Magnitsky, an attorney for a U.S. investment fund who

uncovered mass official corruption, Russia's parliament retaliated with

this bill, which seeks, to punish Americans in part by prohibiting them

from adopting Russian orphans.

Russian Press 'Duped', Ejected, as Bill Halting U.S. Adoptions Goes Ahead (Moskovskij Komsomolets, Russia)

"Imagine our surprise when, after waiting another hour-and-a-half in the hallway, the meeting ... ended! The press had been duped, and the discussion of the children's issue had been conducted without us. Senators scurried out of the room like cockroaches, averting their eyes. ... At this newspaper went to print, it wasn't clear whether the bill, which promises to be one of the most shameful in recent memory, will be discussed on Wednesday, or whether it will again be hidden from the press."

By Mikhail Zubov

Translated By Anastassia Tapsieva

December 26, 2012

Russia - Moskovskij Komsomolets - Original Article (Russian)

It may be about orhphans today, but it all goes back to Sergei Magnitsky: His death in a Russian prison, after implicating top officials in a major tax fraud scheme, is widely regarded as a murder-cover-up in the West, and resulted in the U.S. Magnitsky Bill, which targets Russian officials. Now Moscow has passed its own legislation in retaliation. The trouble is, the Dima Yakovlev Bill, named after a Russian boy who choked to death after his adoptive U.S. dad forgot him in a car, hurts Russian orphans more than it does Americans. BBC NEWS VIDEO: Protesters against Dima Yakovlev Bill forbidding U.S. adoptions of Russian orphans arrested in Moscow, Dec. 20, 00:01:47

On Tuesday, the Federation Council [the upper house of Russia's parliament] approved a bill [the Dima Yakovlev Bill] that imposes sanctions on U.S. citizens, and prohibits them from adopting Russian orphans. On the eve of the vote, the document was under deliberation at the Federation Council Committee on Constitutional Legislation. As it did on Monday, the affair had ended in scandal.

To recall, on Monday, journalists were kicked out of the hall in which the Federation Committee for Foreign Affairs was discussing the bill. The Moskovskij Komsomolets' correspondent, who lingered in the room a few minutes longer and quoted Committee Chairman Senator Mikhail Merglov criticizing the document, was threatened with having his upper chamber press accreditation revoked. However, Federation Council staff promised that later deliberation of the bill would be open to the press.

The children's question [the issue of whether Americans would be permitted to adopt Russian orphans] was item number 24 on the agenda. For an hour-and-a-half, we listened to monotonous and mechanical amendment announcements, but when agenda item number 20 was reached, we were again asked to leave the room: "This point is about the procedure for filing criminal cases against senators, about which we are in disagreement with the Duma [the lower house of parliament]. We believe that the right to petition and file a case against a senator is within the rights of the attorney general alone. Right now, the Investigative Committee claims that right. This question is to be discussed in a closed session."

Imagine our surprise when, after waiting another hour-and-a-half in the hallway, the meeting ... ended! The press had been duped, and the discussion of the children's issue had been conducted without us. Senators scurried out of the room like cockroaches, averting their eyes.

Senator from Nizhnii Novgorod, Valerii Shnyakin, deputy chairmain of the Foreign Affairs Committee, literally had to be cornered to answer questions. His answers were messy and awkward.

Senator Shnyakin: "According to the statistics of Americans themselves, over the last 12 years, there were 2.6 million cases of violence against minors in their country. That is a large figure, which is why we decided to approve the bill."

Moskovskij Komsomolets: "Why were the deliberations closed to the press?"

Senator Shnyakin: "There were a lot of differing opinions and emotions, we didn't want that to spill out. But in the end, the Committee voted unanimously to approve the bill. Let me repeat the background on this issue. There is a Mr. Browder, the owner [CEO] of the fund [Hermitage Capital Management] where Magnitsky was employed. He [Browder] is an international crook, who transferred $24 billion out of Russia at a time in which salaries and pensions were not being paid. Do you know how many orphanages could have been built with such money? And so he lobbied for that bill [the Magnitsky Bill]. And if it werent for Magnitsky, whom I consider the greatest expert on tax evasion, this bill would not exist. He [Magnitsky] was made a martyr - and it is the children who are suffering for it ..."

Posted by Worldmeets.US

[Editors Note: Sergei Magnitsky was jailed in 2008 on charges of tax evasion and fraud, after he implicated senior Russian officials in a complex scheme to defraud the government, and died awaiting trial. Magnitsky's colleagues say the charges against him were fabricated by investigators, whom Magnitsky had accused of being involved in the theft of $230 million in state funds. The U.S. Congress responded by passing the Magnitsky Bill, which punishes Russian officials thought to be responsible for Magnitsky's death, by prohibiting their entrance into the United States and freezing their U.S. assets. Now, in retaliation, Russian lawmakers have passed the Dima Yakovlev Bill, named after a Russian boy who died of heat stroke because his adoptive American father forgot him in a car. The bill seeks to prevent U.S. citizens from adopting Russian orphans, freezes the assets of Americans with assets in Russia deemed to have "violated the rights" of Russian citizens, and excludes them from the country].

And suddenly, as if scales were lifted from his eyes, Shnyakin changed gears: "We need to establish a joint commission with the State Duma [the lower house of Parliament] to monitor implementation of this law. And the Duma should figure out how to limit the term of this law. It should not be permanent. If the Americans repeal their bill, we will repeal ours. Ideally, this would happen in 2013. Putin will meet with Obama and a dialog has to take place. I would hope this law is repealed before even entering onto effect."

SEE ALSO ON THIS:

Kommersant, Russia: Russia's Image Smeared By Law Punishing Orphans

Izvestia, Russia: Duma Reaction to Magnitsky Bill Deals Blow to Orphans - and Duma

Svoboda News, Russia: Senators in U.S. Get Cold Shoulder Over Magnitsky Act

RAI Novosti, Russia: Russian Government Split on Adoption Law

Moskovskij Komsomolets, Russia: Opposition Must Learn to Swim  Not Complain to U.S.

Yezhednevniy Zhurnal, Russia: The Magnitsky List, Americas Secret Weapon!

Kommersant, Russia: U.S. Magnitsky Act to Trigger 'Harsh Backlash'

Voice of Russia, Russia: Russian Opposition Wants Magnitsky List Expanded

Gazeta, Russia: Good Guys vs. Bad Guys: Russia Today is the Latter

Gazeta, Russia: America is Neither Friend Nor Foe

MK, Russia: Obama's Hope Keeps Putin from Window on Paradise

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