Johnson pressed to toughen sanctions against Russians accused of corruption

Senior MPs set to to back a ‘Magnitsky amendment’ to ban those guilty of human rights abuses from Britain

BORIS JOHNSON is to come under pressure this week to target Russian officials involved in corruption and human rights abuses with a tough new sanctions regime akin to co-ordinated measures taken by the US and Canada.

A cross-party group of senior MPs, led by Andrew Mitchell, a former Conservative chief whip, is preparing to back a “Magnitsky amendment” to the Government’s Sanctions Bill, which introduces a post-Brexit national sanctions policy.

The amendment, named after Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer killed in a Moscow prison, would introduce specific powers for ministers to freeze the assets of individuals guilty of “gross human rights abuses” and ban them from Britain.

The cross-party campaign comes after David Cameron admitted in Decem- ber that he regretted “that we didn’t introduce the Magnitsky Act” after similar moves by the US and Canada.

“The Foreign Office argument was that Britain’s existing approach was better, because we could sanction all the people on that list – and more besides. And I went along with it,” the former prime minister said.

“But I soon realised this ignored the advantages of working together – with other countries – under a common heading.”

MPs will begin debate on the Sanctions Bill on Tuesday, when Mr Mitchell is expected to tell Mr Johnson, who will steer the legislation through the Commons, of his intention to put the amendment forward.

He is expected to be joined by senior figures including Helen Goodman, Labour’s shadow foreign minister, on behalf of the opposition front bench; Tom Tugendhat, the Tory chairman of the Commons foreign affairs select committee; and Richard Benyon, a Conservative member of Parliament’s joint intelligence and security y committee.

The amendment will “ad- d- dress the scandal that the United Kingdom has effectively laid out the welcome mat for dictators and human rights abusers from around the world,” Mr Mitchell is expected to say. “The State Department recently published their Magnitsky list, which includes the son of Russia’s general prosecutor, a general from Myanmar implicated in ethnic cleansing, the exdictator of Gambia, a shady international fraudster from Israel, and a retired Pakistani colonel suspected of organ t trafficking. The reality is that every s single person on that list is welcome to travel to the UK.”

Mr B Benyon said there was a “unanimity of purpose” to take action. Ms Goodman G said: “Sanctions always w work best when they’re coordinated in internationally.”

Vladi Vladimir Putin has personally railed against the moves, even imposing a retaliato taliatory ban on American adoptions of Ru Russian children as a result of the legisl legislation passed in the US.

Th The legislation abroad was bro brought in following a campaign by Bil Bill Browder, a British financier whose lawyer, Magnitsky, was killed in prison while investigatin ing a fraud against his invest- ment firm. The US now publishes a “Magnitsky list”, naming individuals subject to asset freezes and visa bans for their involvement in human rights abuses, including those linked to the Magnitsky case.

Following a campaign led by Dominic Raab, now the housing minister, an amendment was added to the Criminal Finances bill, enabling the Government to apply to the High Court to

‘The UK has effectively laid out the welcome mat for [the world’s] dictators and human rights abusers’

freeze UK assets belonging to those involved in gross human rights abuses. Mr Mitchell is expected to say that the existing amendment “does not match the standard of other Magnitsky laws around the world”.

Mr Browder said: “The Government has recently talked tough on Russia. Now is the opportunity for them to put that talk into action.”

Ministers have said that existing laws prevent “those involved in gross human rights abuses entering the UK”.