Americans face entry ban over Magnitsky Act
Russia will ban entry to Americans violating human rights in response to the Magnitsky Act approved by US legislators, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said during a meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Dublin.
The US Senate passed on Thursday the Magnitsky Act, which targets Russian officials deemed by Washington to have violated human rights.
Ninety-four Senators approved the legislation, which would introduce visa bans and asset freezes on Russian officials considered by the White House to be guilty of human rights violations.
The bill specifically targets Russian officials considered by the White House to be involved in the death of Russian whistleblower lawyer Sergei Magnitsky in 2009, but it extends to other purported violators of human rights in Russia as well. Sergei Magnitsky died in a Russian prison in 2009 after allegedly being tortured.
After Thursday's Senate vote, the Russian Foreign Ministry called the Senate's approval of the Magnitsky Act "a performance in the Theater of the Absurd."
The bill still needs to be ratified by President Obama to become a law.
