Chairwoman Hautala screened on 16th of November with MEP Kristiina Ojuland film “Justice for Sergey”, directed by Hans Hermans and Martin Maat from the Netherlands.[:]

Russian lawyer, Mr Sergey Magnitsky, died on 16th of November 2009 in prison in Moscow. He was an ordinary man who tried to expose the extraordinary corruption in Russia today. After an inhumane and torturous detention of one year, he died after fatal deterioration of his health.

After one year of his death, no one has been held accountable.

The screening of “Justice for Sergey” was held on the first anniversary of his death in the parliaments around the world. In addition to Brussels, the film was shown today in US Congress and the national Parliaments of the UK, Canada, Germany, Estonia and Poland. Such widespread commitment to pay respect to the memory of Sergey is the culmination of the global outrage and anger that his death in custody has ignited.

This reaction, Ms Hautala considers, serves as a reminder to the Russian authorities that the justice must eventually be done. “The story of Sergey highlights in most gruesome ways that the prison conditions and accountability for this kind of abuses must be improved. Only by persisting on this, we can ensure that Sergey did not die in vain”, she said.