MOSCOW, June 15 - RAPSI. Russia will retaliate if the United States passes a law on the "Magnitsky List," Sergey Ryabkov, Deputy Foreign Minister, said on Friday.

He said that Moscow's reaction to this will be complex and extremely severe, he told journalists, adding that it is premature to specify the list of measures that will be taken.

On June 19, the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations will vote on the draft law on visa sanctions on Russians allegedly involved in human rights violations (the so-called law on Magnitsky List).

Magnitsky, an attorney for the Hermitage Capital Management Fund, was charged with large-scale corporate tax evasion. He died in a Moscow pretrial detention center on November 16, 2009 after spending nearly a year behind bars. His death sparked a public outcry and resulted in amendments to the Criminal Code and a reshuffling of officials in the penal system.

U.S. Senator Benjamin Cardin drafted the so-called Magnitsky List, which comprises Russian officials allegedly involved in the case. In April 2011, a draft law was submitted to the U.S. Congress which stipulates imposing visa and economic sanctions on individuals suspected of involvement in the lawyers death.