03/03/2025 Legal Affairs and Human Rights
A PACE hearing on ‘Proceeds of the crime denounced by Sergei Magnitsky found in Switzerland must not be returned to the presumed perpetrators’ was organised by the Committee of Legal Affairs and Human Rights in Paris today, in the context of the report being prepared by Lesia Vasylenko (Ukraine, ALDE) on this topic.
The participants heard from William Browder, CEO Hermitage Capital Management, Head of the Global Magnitsky Justice Campaign, and Professor Mark Pieth, Founder of the Basel Institute on Governance, founding member of the Financial Action Task Force.
Lesia Vasylenko welcomed the fact that, already in 2014, Switzerland had joined international sanctions following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Nevertheless, she said, there are significant concerns that there is a high risk that the Swiss banking system might become or remain an attractive destination for dirty Russian money.
The full video of the hearing can be found here.