The foreign affairs committee of the lower house of Russia's parliament plans to discuss the European Parliament's sanctions against Russian officials over the death of a detained lawyer, a lawmaker said on Wednesday.
Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Konstantin Kosachyov said the committee will discuss the move on Thursday.
On Tuesday, the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee voted unanimously to ban entry to the EU for 60 officials allegedly involved in the death of whistleblower lawyer Sergei Magnitsky last year. The full house is expected to vote on it next month.
Magnitsky, who was defending UK investment company Hermitage Capital Management against tax evasion charges, died aged 37 in a Moscow prison last November after being refused medical treatment for pancreatitis.
Kosachyov said he was "deeply disappointed and shocked" by the European Parliament's move.
He warned that it "may have negative consequences for Russia-EU relations."
"Here we see an open domination of political reasons over legal awareness," he said.
Magnitsky's death triggered an international row last year amid concerns that his imprisonment could have been politically motivated.
MOSCOW, November 24 (RIA Novosti)
