Dozens of Russians sanctioned under Magnitsky laws

Strict financial and travel sanctions will be imposed on 39 Russian individuals responsible for corruption and the abuse and death of Ukrainian-born Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.

The individuals, who are yet to be named, are the first to be targeted under historic laws, which were passed by the federal government in December.

Sanctions have been placed on 39 Russian individuals under Australia’s Magnitsky legislation.

The laws, driven by the late Labor senator Kimberley Kitching, and based partly on the United States’ Magnitsky Act, give the government the power to impose strict sanctions on individuals who commit serious human rights abuses and corruption.

Mr Magnitsky was a lawyer who uncovered corruption by tax and law officials in Russian. He was imprisoned and died in custody in 2009 after he was refused medical treatment.

The individuals on the list will have their assets frozen and be banned from travel. Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne said it would ensure Australia did not become a safe haven for those already locked out of other countries.

“Mr Magnitsky’s case inspired an international movement of sanctions laws to hold those responsible for his death to account, and to enable sanctions to be applied to other perpetrators of serious human rights violations and abuses, wherever they occur in the world,” Ms Payne said.

Late Labor senator Kimberley Kitching was a key force behind the reforms.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The announcement follows a series of tributes in the House of Representatives for Ms Kitching, who died on March 10 after suffering a heart attack.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said Ms Kitching carried a “heavy burden” for the stances she made, and commemorated the late Labor senator as a diligent and hardworking parliamentarian.

He said he didn’t mean to claim Ms Kitching, from Labor’s right-wing, had more in common with his side of the chamber, however she had friends across the political spectrum. “In an instant we knew what we had lost,” Mr Morrison said.

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese described Ms Kitching as a woman who stood her ground and fought for her beliefs, adding she “didn’t waste a second” of her political career while serving in the Senate.

“Politics can be difficult, there’s so much at stake, passions are high, and you don’t always get an agreement as to which is the best course of action,” he said.

Meanwhile, Labor frontbencher and close friend of Kimberley Kitching, Bill Shorten, said he now disagreed with his musing that the late senator would have been better off had she not entered politics.

The former Labor leader initially made the remark on ABC radio the day after Ms Kitching’s death, amid talk she had been under political stress during a preselection battle in Victoria.

However, paying tribute to Senator Kitching in the House of Representatives on Tuesday afternoon, Mr Shorten said he now recanted on that opinion.

“I don’t agree with what I said,” he said, lauding her contribution to Parliament and Australian life.

“I have changed my view completely, upon reflection.”

Jacqueline Maley cuts through the noise of the federal election campaign with news, views and expert analysis. Sign up to our Australia Votes 2022 newsletter here.

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