“And Nobody Dies In Your Prisons?” Russian Fury At U.S. Magnitsky Act

Putin reacts

But the American senators were not convinced. Although some senators thought that the law should apply to government officials from any country involved in human rights abuses, the majority felt that the restrictions should apply to Russia only. President Obama unexpectedly supported this interpretation. According to sources in the U.S. State department, this was because the White House decided it would not be able to avoid a negative reaction from Moscow, but wanted to prevent negative reactions to the law in China and the Middle East.

In reaction to the law, Russian President Vladimir Putin offered a lengthy response: “A person died; it has been clear for some time that Mr. Magnitsky died in prison. That is a tragedy that we regret. What, are you telling me that nobody dies in their prisons? Maybe more people die in their prisons than in ours. In European prisons? In the U.S.? Listen, it’s been eight years and Guantanamo is still not closed; people are held without a trial or an investigation, like in the Middle Ages; prisoners walk around in chains and shackles! People who open secret prisons, legalize torture without investigations! And now these people are now accusing us of somehow not being good enough!