NPR

Magnitsky Act Architect Wants Law Used Against Saudi Arabia Over Khashoggi

The act, which American businessman Bill Browder helped pass, "freezes the assets and bans the visas of people who are sanctioned under it," he tells Here & Now's Peter O'Dowd.
Protesters hold pictures of missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi during a demonstration in front of the Saudi Arabian consulate on Oct. 8, 2018 in Istanbul. (Ozan Kose/AFP/Getty Images)

President Trump said Thursday there would be “very severe” consequences if the missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed by Saudi Arabia. A bipartisan group of senators has been pushing for sanctions on Saudi officials in accordance with the Magnitsky Act.

The law is named after Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer who died in prison in 2009 after exposing government fraud. He was, who has been watching the Khashoggi disappearance unfold.

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