Seimas opens discussions of Magnitsky Act

Proposed by a group of MPs, the bill was supported for discussion by 87 parliamentarians, with ten abstentions. It will now be discussed by parliamentary committees. Plenary hearings are scheduled for June 15.

The MPs suggest amending the provision of the Law on the Legal Status of Foreigners with a clause that foreigners would be banned from coming to the Republic of Lithuania for more than five years, if he can constitute a threat to state security or public peace.

According to the bill, persons would be blacklisted on grounds of information or reasonable causes to think that the foreigner is linked with large-scale corruption, money laundering or violation of human rights, which led to death or major injuries, ungrounded conviction for political reasons or suffered other serious negative consequences.

Other grounds for refusing entry include potential threat of an individual to security or public peace of Lithuania or any other member-state of the European Union (EU) and NATO.

The amendments were proposed by a group of conservatives, including the party’s leader Gabrielius Landsbergis, as well the Foreign Affairs Committee’s chairman Juozas Bernatonis of the Social Democrats and National Security and Defence Committee chairman Vytautas Bakas of the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union.