MOSCOW, April 12 - RAPSI. The Russian response to the so-called Magnitsky List may include the names of 104 officials from the United States prohibited from entering Russia, Kommersant reported on Friday.
“As soon as the United States publishes its list, Russia will publish its own,” the daily quoted an unnamed source with close ties to the presidential administration.
According to the daily, Russia’s list initially included 71 names and now Moscow have 33 more people to add to the list bringing the number to 104.
The Magnitsky Act introduces visa and financial sanctions on Russian officials suspected of human rights abuses. The officials’ names are to be put on the so-called Magnitsky List, which is scheduled to be made public this week.
The act was signed into law by US President Barack Obama in December, and is ostensibly designed to punish officials believed to be connected to the death in a Moscow jail of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky in 2009. The scope of the legislation has been broadened since its inception to cover a wide range of suspected rights abusers.