Vassilev Pushes for US Sanctions Against Bulgaria

Tsvetan Vassilev's representative, Joseph Augustine, executive vice president at the Washington-based consultancy Jefferson Waterman International, JWI, has confirmed in an interview with the Bulgarian International Television that his company has notified the US State Department and Treasury about the ex-banker's case.

Augustine explained on Tuesday that two applications have been filed to the US governmental institutions - one alleging violations of Vasilev's human rights and another about alleged top-level corruption, in regards to which the banker - wanted in Bulgaria over a bank collapse - requests US sanctions against Bulgaria under the Global Magnitsky Act.

"We have concluded … that indeed he is a victim of Bulgaria's corrupt system and we have taken the decision to move his case forward," Augustine said.

The US political website The Hill was the first to report in early August that Vassilev intended to become the first case under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, a law passed by the Congress that allows the US to impose sanctions against foreign officials involved in corruption and human rights.

It is named after the Russian lawyer and whistleblower Sergei Magnitsky, who died in prison in 2009 under suspicious circumstances after alleging that Russian officials from Vladimir Putin's government illegally acquired 230 million US dollars.

Congress adopted the law in 2012, first banning Russian officials related to the Magnitsky case from entering the US and from using US banks. In 2016, the law was extended on a global level.

Together with the JWI, the Richardson Center for Global Engagement, found by former New Mexico Governor, Congressman and US Ambassador to the UN Bill Richardson, has also engaged in...