OTTAWA — Russian President Vladimir Putin is accusing Justin Trudeau’s government of playing “unconstructive political games” with its newly-adopted Magnitsky law. It would allow the federal government to impose sanctions on foreigners accused of human rights violations, including freezing any Canadian-held assets and barring them from entering the country. But its short title, the Sergei Magnitsky Law, is named after a Moscow lawyer who was tortured and died in prison in 2009 after blowing the whistle on corruption involving government officials. That law was expanded in 2016 to allow sanctions on human rights abusers in any country, not just Russia. “This new law enables Canada to take further action to respond to cases of human rights violations and significant acts of corruption anywhere in the world,” it reads.

Source: National Post October 20, 2017 16:18 UTC