William Browder Accused of Murder by the Kremlin

Businessman William Browder has fearlessly traveled the world to fight for sanctions against the corrupt Russian officials responsible for the death of his lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky. Browder and Magnitsky uncovered corruption in Russian government, and Magnitsky was imprisoned, tortured, and finally murdered in an attempt to cover it up.
Browder’s eloquent testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee in July tells the story eloquently. It can be found here.

This weekend Putin’s government in Russia accused Browder of the murder of Magnitsky (who had been in prison more than a year at the time of his death), and put out an Interpol warrant for his arrest.
Browder, who was born in the U.S. and is a British citizen, found out that his U.S. Visa had been revoked at the same time.
http://thehill.com/policy/international/356674-state-dept-revokes-visa-of-top-putin-critic-report

That issue has since been resolved, and Browder’s U.S. Visa has been reinstated.
Senator McCain has demanded an immediate investigation into the circumstances surrounding the revocation and reinstatement of the visa.
http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/356725-lawmakers-want-immediate-review-of-travel-restriction-on-putin

The U.S. Magnitsky Act has been a thorn in the side of Russia’s dictator, since its passage in 2012. The meeting in Trump Tower between representatives of the Trump campaign and representatives of the Russian government in June of 2016 revolved around the Act, under the guise of discussing “adoptions.” (Russia stopped all adoptions of Russian children by U.S. families in retaliation for passage of the Act.)

It is clear to experts in Russian corruption and retaliation that the warrant was payback for Canada’s recent passage of its own Magntsky Act, sanctioning those responsible for Magnitsky’s death.

Canada’s public safety minister, ralph Goodale, announced today that “Canada will decide admissibility to Canada, not the Kremlin.”
http://nationalpost.com/news/politics/canada-wont-enforce-russian-warrant-against-magnitsky-advocate-goodale

​Browder was interviewed by Rachel Martin this morning on National Public Radio. The interview can be found here.
​http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/10/24/559691021/russia-accuses-putin-critic-of-murdering-his-lawyer-u-s-revokes-visa

​Photo: James Hill for The New York Times