Euro-MPs want Russia sanctions over jailed lawyer's death

(STRASBOURG) - European lawmakers on Tuesday called for an asset freeze and travel ban on Russian officials linked to the 2009 death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky while he was held in jail.

Parliament passed a resolution by a large majority requiring the EU to draw up a list of officials implicated in his death who should then face a European travel ban and assets freeze.

These officials, "instead of being brought to justice, are still in place," said Liberal MEP Kristina Ojuland from Estonia.

"They travel in the EU, they spend their money in the EU, they buy property in the EU and they educate their children in the EU," said Ojuland, who steered the resolution through parliament.

The death in jail of the 37-year-old lawyer working for a Western investment fund has become a major sticking point in Russia's relations with Western countries.

Magnitsky, a Russian national, died in November 2009 while being held restrained and handcuffed in a Moscow jail after being transferred from the notorious Butyrka pre-trial detention centre.

The Parliament resolution comes at a time when ties between Brussels and Moscow have been strained by a series of disputes, the most recent about an EU probe into Russian gas giant Gazprom which has sparked a harsh reaction.