Mr. William Browder:

It is hard to imagine what they must be thinking in Russia to prosecute a dead man. This has never been done before and is ghoulish beyond belief. It is hard to get inside the minds of criminals. My theory is that the Russian Government is apoplectically mad about the passage of the Magnitsky Act. It touches it in such a way it is in a state of raw panic in terms of how to deal with it. One of the ways in which that panic is manifesting itself is in this posthumous trial. What it might be trying to do is obtain a conviction against Mr. Magnitsky. As I stated previously, I am a codefendant. The Russian Government is trying to secure a conviction against me and is trying me in absentia. In this regard, it is visiting Parliaments throughout Europe, which is where they are afraid the Magnitsky Act will come into force, saying that it has been proven in court that Mr. Magnitsky and I are criminals. I do not believe what they are doing will have the desired effect. Most people react in the same manner as Members have today. I do not believe those involved are emotionally intelligent enough to understand how people will react to this.

On my interaction with other Parliaments, we have visited 12 Parliaments throughout Europe seeking to have resolutions passed. Approximately 18 months ago the Dutch Parliament unanimously passed a resolution calling on the Dutch Government to impose Magnitsky sanctions. The British Parliament backbench committee passed a cross-party resolution calling for Magnitsky sanctions. Some 59 members of seven of the eight parties in the Swedish Parliament called on their Prime Minister to impose Magnitsky sanctions. The Polish, Italian, Canadian and other Parliaments have also passed resolutions. The OSCE resolution calling on all member states of the OSCE to impose Magnitsky sanctions was supported by approximately 90% of members. The European Parliament also passed a resolution in November. We are not treading new ground here. Ireland is an important place because of its position as President of the European Council. I would not normally push for swift action but to the extent that Ireland is interested in taking some action, it has only a six month window within to do so. I ask that it do so quickly.