The Russian and Serbian authorities are connected by corruption

In an exclusive interview with “Nova”, William Bill Browder said that the authorities in Serbia and Russia are linked by corruption and that Serbia has largely disqualified itself by its behaviour after the aggression against Ukraine.

“Any country that could potentially be an ally of Russia is important for them, because they don’t have many friends now.” They have long leaned on Serbia, linked by a common Orthodox Church. I would add, however, that it is also corruption that links the government in Russia and the government in Serbia. “You now have a situation where Russia needs a friend and Serbia wants to be one,” he said.

Who is William Bill Browder

The American-born British financier is one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s biggest enemies. He has been persecuted over the years, his colleagues harassed and eventually arrested, but he has managed to make the best of the whole situation – his business and reputation have remained intact, and the tragic death of a colleague led to the passing of a law protecting all those targeted by the Russian authorities.

Browder is CEO and co-founder of Hermitage Capital, the investment adviser to the Hermitage Fund, which was at one point the largest foreign portfolio investor in Russia. He took over large Russian companies such as “Gazprom”, “United Energy Systems” and “Sidanco”, and as punishment was refused entry to Russia, deported to the UK and declared a threat to Russian national security.

Eighteen months after he was deported, the Moscow office of Hermitage Capital was raided. The police then seized the registration documents of Hermitage’s investment holdings, and Browder decided to stand in the way of the regime and find out on whose orders the police had raided his company’s offices.

Magnitsky case

Sergei Magnitsky, head of the tax practice at Firestone Duncan, was assigned this task. Magnitsky revealed that while in the possession of the police, the documents were used to falsely re-register the Hermitage holding in the name of an ex-convict.

Magnitsky testified against the perpetrators of the fraud, including Interior Ministry officials who raided the Hermitage offices. Five weeks after his second testimony in 2008, Magnitsky, one of Bill Browder’s closest associates, was arrested at his home. He was ill-treated in detention and soon began to complain of severe back pain.

Just a few months later, Magnitsky died in a prison cell. Medical expert reports showed that Magnitsky had received inadequate medical care while in pre-trial detention and may even have been given drugs that aggravated his pancreatitis. The court ruling states that “his life was unjustifiably endangered by the domestic authorities”.

After Magnitsky’s death, Browder lobbied the US Congress to pass the Magnitsky Act, which deals with punishing those who violate human rights in Russia. Browder succeeded in his intention, and Barack Obama signed the law into law in 2012.

While America passed a law protecting dissidents, Russia initiated proceedings against Magnitsky and Browder for tax fraud. Russia soon issued an arrest warrant for Browder, but Interpol refused to arrest and execute him, saying it was a political arrest.

Elections and a new blow to Putin

In an exhaustive fight against the Russian regime, Browder agreed to testify before the US Senate on Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 US presidential election.

In response to Browder’s “betrayal”, the Russian government made a fifth attempt to have him placed on Interpol’s arrest list, which was again rejected, to Putin’s disappointment.

In 2018, he was finally arrested in Spain, but was soon released after it was again confirmed that it was a political case./Nova S/