A senior Russian lawmaker on Tuesday criticized the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee for approving sanctions against Russian officials.
The committee on Tuesday unanimously approved a proposal to ban entry to the EU for 60 Russian officials suspected of being involved in the death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky. The full European Parliament is to vote on the resolution in December.
"The situation with the Magnitsky case causes bewilderment," Konstantin Kosachyov, the head of the lower house's international committee, told journalists.
Magnitsky, who was defending UK investment company Hermitage Capital Management against tax evasion charges, died aged 37 in a Moscow pre-trial detention facility last November after being refused medical treatment for pancreatitis.
Kosachyov said the European colleagues' actions are "poorly elaborated" and said he doubts they can name any person from the list of 60 Russian officials they think are implicated in the Magnitsky death case.
The Russian lawmaker said the European Parliament thus violates the presumption of the innocence principle, using the presumption of guilt principle instead. He added that no conclusions should be made until the trial in Russia ends.
MOSCOW, November 23 (RIA Novosti)
