In a letter of 31 October, 21 MEPs called again for the adoption of sanctions in connection with the death of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky in 2009.
In their letter to the president of the Estonian Parliament, Eiki Nestor, Estonia's Prime Minister Juri Ratas and Foreign Minister Sven Mikser, which was copied to High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, the MEPs launch a call to the Estonian authorities, asking them in their competence as the Presidency of the EU Council, to take the necessary measures and present the European Parliament's most recent recommendation (of April 2014) to the Council as quickly as possible.
On 2 April 2014, MEPs adopted the report by Kristiina Ojuland (ALDE, Estonia) and thus called on the Council to sanction 32 Russian civil servants suspected of being responsible for Magnitsky's torture and death, of "the judicial smothering" of the facts and of continuous harassment of Magnitsky's mother and widow (see EUROPE 11053).
The MEPs – from the ALDE, Greens/EFA, EPP, ECR and S&D Groups and from 12 member states (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Germany, France, UK, Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, Czech Republic and Romania) – believe that by sanctioning the people on the Magnitsky list, through a visa ban and assets freeze, the EU would be making a significant effort to protect the lives of opposition activists and dissidents, human rights defenders and whistleblowers, who continue their tireless fight in today's Russia. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)