STRASBOURG, France, Dec. 16 (UPI) -- European Union lawmakers Thursday called on the 27-nation bloc to sanction Russian officials linked to the prison death of corporate lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.
Despite heavy Russian lobbying, the 736-member European Parliament recommended EU member states impose an EU entry ban for 60 Russian officials allegedly involved in the case and freeze their bank accounts and other European assets, the resolution said.
Magnitsky's case demonstrated "serious shortcomings within Russia's judicial system," said the Parliament, which with the Council of the European Union forms the EU's bicameral legislative branch.
The Russian non-governmental news agency Interfax cited an unnamed Russian Foreign Ministry official as saying before the vote that if the EU banned these Russian officials, Russia would take "identical measures."
The EU nations are under no obligation to adopt the Parliament's recommendation.
Magnitsky -- a Russian attorney advising London's Hermitage Capital Management Ltd., once the largest foreign-investment fund in Russia -- had alleged widespread, officially sanctioned tax fraud.
He was arrested and his death in prison came days before a one-year limit on being held without trial was to have expired. The death generated international attention and sparked an investigation into abuse allegations.
Magnitsky had claimed he was also denied medical treatment as part of an effort to force him to drop fraud allegations against Russian officials.
