MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Thursday, the Parliament of Lithuania unanimously adopted a bill similar to the US Magnitsky Act aimed at Russian officials. The new law prevents foreigners involved in large-scale corruption, money laundering or human rights violations from entering Lithuania. The legislation will come into force in January 2018.
"It is obvious that this step is further deterioration of bilateral relations between Russia and Lithuania, and will lead to further estrangement of two neighboring states. I think that consequences of such policy will be rather negative for Lithuania itself," Andrey Klishas, the chairman of the Russian Federation Council Committee on Constitutional Legislation, said.
He noted that by doing so Lithuania "is trying not only become a part, but lead this anti-Russian mainstream that we witness today."
Sergei Magnitsky was a Hermitage Capital Management lawyer who was arrested in Moscow on tax evasion charges and died in custody in 2009. The United States adopted a Magnitsky Act in 2012 that imposed travel bans and asset freezes on Russians allegedly involved in his death.
