Foreign Affairs Committee to discuss Irish EU Presidency priorities with Amnesty International Ireland and Sergei Magnitsky case

Committee Chairman Pat Breen TD said: “We’re looking forward to hearing from Amnesty International on the human rights measures it would see as key concerns for the Presidency. As part of the vibrant parliamentary dimension to the Presidency, the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade will play an important role in driving the agenda on the EU’s foreign affairs priorities. In conjunction with the Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the Joint Committees on Foreign Affairs and Trade and on Justice, Defence and Equality will jointly host the Interparliamentary Conference for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) over two days in Dublin Castle on 24th and 25th March. The Conference will be addressed by Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, who will outline current issues on the CFSP and CSDP.”

Following the meeting with Amnesty International Ireland, the case of Sergei Magnitsky, the whistle-blowing Russian lawyer and accountant, who died in jail in Russia in 2009 after nearly a year in custody, will also be discussed by the Committee.

Deputy Breen added: “Mr Magnitsky was an auditor in the law firm Firestone Duncan, which was employed by Hermitage Capital Management to investigate allegations of fraud made against the company to the value of US$230 million. After testifying and reporting to the authorities on these allegations, he himself was subsequently accused of collusion with Hermitage, charged with tax evasion by one of the police officials he believed to be involved in the fraud and died in prison after having been refused medical attention. He spent a total of 358 days in prison and died shortly before the one year limit of holding someone without trial would have elapsed in his case.

“In February 2012, twenty months after his death, the Russian authorities announced that Mr Magnitsky was to be tried, posthumously, on the tax evasion charges for which he was arrested.

“His former client, investor William Browder, has led a campaign to highlight this case and to put pressure on Russia to address the issue. Tomorrow, Mr Browder will apprise the Committee on the Sergei Magnitsky case and update members on the latest developments.”

The meeting will start in Committee Room 1, Leinster House at 2.30pm on Wednesday, 27th February 2013.

Committee proceedings can be followed live at:
http://www.oireachtas.ie/parliament/watchlisten/

For further information please contact:

Ciaran Brennan,
Houses of the Oireachtas,
Communications Unit,
Leinster House,
Dublin 2

P: +3531 618 3903
M: 086-0496518
F: +3531 618 4551

Notes to the editor: Access details on the Interparliamentary Conference for the Common Foreign And Security Policy (CFSP) and Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) here http://www.parleu2013.ie/

Committee Membership

Seán Crowe, TD
Pat Breen, TD (Chairman)
Eric Byrne, TD
Olivia Mitchell, TD
Bernard J Durkan, TD
Pádraig Mac Lochlainn, TD
Gerald Nash, TD
Dan Neville, TD
Maureen O’Sullivan, TD
Brendan Smith, TD

Senators

Deirdre Clune,
Mark Daly,
Lorraine Higgins,
Michael Mullins,
David Norris,
Jim Walsh.