Ireland a potential ‘weak link’ for Russia money, says anti-corruption campaigner
Ireland is a potential “weak link” and “soft touch” for Russian money, according to the anti-corruption campaigner who has helped change laws in 34 countries to target human rights abuses.
US-born financier and political activist Bill Browder, who has campaigned for 12 years for countries to introduce “Magnitsky” legislation allowing them to sanction people involved in human rights abuses or corruption, is pushing Ireland to introduce its own legislation.
Mr Browder, once Russia’s largest foreign investor, has lobbied globally for the changes in his fight for justice for his lawyer Sergei Magnitsky who exposed wide-ranging corruption by Russian state officials and was later arrested, tortured and killed in a Russian prison in 2009.
Ahead of testifying at the Oireachtas justice committee yesterday, Mr Browder told The Irish Times that while Europe has adopted an EU Magnitsky Act, EU foreign policy meant that countries such as Hungary can block sanctions being imposed in Ireland. The Irish Government has “outsourced” its sovereignty in taking its own action, he said. [Continue reading…]