Magnitsky Act
bill passed by the U.S. Congress intending to punish Russian officials responsible for the death of Sergei Magnitsky
The Magnitsky Act, formally the Russia and Moldova Jackson–Vanik Repeal and Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012, is a bipartisan U.S. federal law enacted in 2012. It imposes sanctions on Russian officials deemed responsible for the death of Russian accountant Sergei Magnitsky in a Moscow prison in 2009. The act also repealed the Jackson–Vanik amendment, granting permanent normal trade relations status to Russia and Moldova. It was signed into law by President Barack Obama on December 14, 2012.
The Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, enacted in 2016 as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017, extends the original act's framework to sanction foreign officials worldwide for human rights violations or significant corruption, authorizing asset freezes and U.S. entry bans.
Background
In 2009, Russian tax lawyer Sergei Magnitsky uncovered a $230 million tax fraud scheme involving Russian officials. After reporting the corruption, he was arrested, accused of the fraud himself, and detained in Moscow's Butyrka prison. Magnitsky suffered from untreated medical conditions, including gallstones, pancreatitis, and calculous cholecystitis. After nearly a year in custody, he died in November 2009, with reports indicating he was beaten by prison guards. The case drew international attention, highlighting systemic corruption and human rights abuses in Russia.
The public source identifies “Magnitsky Act” as bill passed by the U.S. Congress intending to punish Russian officials responsible for the death of Sergei Magnitsky. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Magnitsky, bill and passed.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Magnitsky Act”, the useful work is to connect “bill passed by the U.S. Congress intending to punish Russian officials responsible for the death of Sergei Magnitsky” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q630717. VIAF identifies the subject as 296385607. The Library of Congress control number is no2013014029. None of the 2 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2012, 2009, 2016 and 2017.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Magnitsky Act”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Magnitsky Act primary sources, Magnitsky Act archive and Magnitsky research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Magnitsky Act”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Magnitsky Act” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.