Bill Browder: We Need To Take Lukashenka's Money At Gunpoint

The Belarusians have a window of opportunity.

International financier Bill Browder has campaigned for years to punish the murderers of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky. On his initiative, the United States, and later in other countries, adopted the so-called "Magnitsky Act." Browder told Radio Svaboda how such sanctions can be applied against the regime of Aliaksandr Lukashenka.

Who is Browder?

William (Bill) Browder is an international financier and investor. Founder and CEO of the investment fund Hermitage Capital Management, which from 1995 to 2006 was one of the largest foreign investment funds operating on the Russian stock market. In 2005, he was banned from entering Russia. Since 2010, Browder has been leading a company to investigate the theft of income tax paid by the fund to the Russian budget in 2006, as well as the search for the killers of the fund's lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, who revealed this theft.

In 2012, at the initiative of Browder, the United States adopted the so-called "Magnitsky Law", which imposed sanctions against suspects of involvement in the death of Sergei Magnitsky. This law was later extended to cover human rights violators, and other countries have passed similar laws.

In July 2013, by the verdict of a Russian court, Browder was sentenced in absentia to 9 years in a general regime colony on charges of tax evasion. In December 2017, in another case with the same charge, the Tverskoy Court of Moscow sentenced him to 9 years in prison. Russia tried to arrest Browder through Interpol, but they rejected Russian requests, recognizing the case as political.

"Previously, these people did horrible things with complete impunity."

“Since the Magnitsky Act was passed in the United States in 2012, many other countries — such as Canada, the United Kingdom, and the European Union — have adopted similar laws. To what extent has this legislation contributed to the punishment of those responsible for the death of Sergei Magnitsky and the punishment of other violators of human rights in Russia?

“I think we can measure the effectiveness of the Magnitsky Act by how angry Vladimir Putin was when it was adopted. Usually, Putin does not show emotion, but then he became extremely emotional. He banned the adoption of Russian children by American families and made repealing the Magnitsky Act a priority in foreign policy.

This law is effective because it targets what matters most to Putin and other people in his regime - their personal wealth. They want to keep their money safe in the West. These people value money more than human life.

Previously, these people did horrific things with complete impunity. The Magnitsky Act is aimed at their money, and they don't like it. Has this law deterred people like the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, from terrible things? Probably not. Has he kept other people from doing such things? Maybe yes.

The more the Magnitsky Act is used and the more people are held accountable for their actions, the more likely they are not to do horrific things.

So far, we are at the beginning of the road. It seems to me that, over time, this law will become an extended tool for such situations. Most countries where the rule of law exists will have it and use it regularly.

- Do you think that a similar model can be used against those responsible for human rights violations in Belarus?

- I believe that Belarus is an important example of where the Magnitsky Act should be used, much more aggressively. I have close contact with leading representatives of the Belarusian opposition, and they are very disappointed that the Magnitsky Act has not yet been used more widely.

They would like this law to be primarily used against the people who handle Lukashenka's finances and provide financial support to the regime. These people include both Belarusian oligarchs and Russian oligarchs.

In situations like this, everything changes when you target money. So far, the West - the United States, the European Union, and others - has used only a small part of the possible steps against the Belarusian regime, Lukashenka, and his entourage. There is much more that can be done here, and I think more steps will be taken. So far, these are only the first reactions of the West to this terrible situation in which Lukashenka has placed his people.

- What was your reaction when you heard the news about the landing in Belarus of a plane with journalist Raman Pratasevich and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega and their arrest? If you have planned your travels, have you avoided flying over Russia? How unexpected was this incident for you?

- I would never have flown over Russia, long before the story with Raman Pratasevich, for this very reason. This is a terrifying thing. I didn't really think that Russia or Belarus would order the plane to land. I was more afraid that the plane might have some kind of malfunction. For example, you will have to land in some Novosibirsk, if you are flying to Hong Kong over Russia, and suddenly "God, Bill Browder is on the plane, here's good luck!"

Therefore, I would avoid flying over countries with other hostile regimes - over Iran, over China - for the same reasons. We live in a world of lawlessness, where dictators and kleptocrats have no standards and no laws. And more often than not, these people do not face any harsh reactions to their actions.

"Lukashenka may very soon find himself in a desperate situation"

- If we talk about the difference between Russia and Belarus, then some believe that, since Lukashenka controls to a large extent the state economy, he is less dependent on the oligarchs. Do you agree with this? Do you think that the same mechanism can be used against Lukashenka - sanctions against people with money who support him in Russia and inside Belarus?

- He's not a very rich man by Russian standards, by Putin’s standards. He lives at the expense of Russia. And I think that if you determine where these handouts come from, who gives him financial support, then he may very soon find himself in a desperate situation.

In a sense, influencing Lukashenka is easier than influencing Putin. Putin has all the money in the world, and Lukashenka lives, so to speak, from paycheck to paycheck, by the standards of these dictators.

- You said in your interviews that the problem with the EU sanctions is that many countries have the right to veto. Including countries such as Cyprus, which are very interested in investment from corrupt regimes. And the new administration of US President Joe Biden wants to act in concert with the European Union, and the result is a situation where Cyprus has a veto in American foreign policy. What advice would you give on how to change this?

- You absolutely accurately described the situation. The fact that Cyprus, or Hungary, or Malta can influence US foreign policy is very strange. It's good that Joe Biden wants to work with other countries. But if other countries want to block US foreign policy, at some point, Biden will have to say: "Good idea, but we'll do it ourselves." And I cannot imagine that soon he will allow Hungary to dictate US foreign policy.

- You spoke critically about the upcoming very soon summit between Putin and Biden. If you were in President Biden's shoes, what would you say to President Putin?

- If I were in the place of President Biden, I would have canceled the summit. Vladimir Putin should not be honored and given the stage together with the most powerful man in the free world - the President of the United States. It doesn't make sense.

Vladimir Putin has done nothing to deserve such recognition. He was an international threat. Vladimir Putin must be treated like the criminal and bandit that he is.

This is not about what to say to him, but what to show him. Show very clearly that if he harms the national interests of the United States, he will have to pay. The US government has not yet done so.

"Putin has no resources for a real confrontation"

- Once Lukashenka, who at that time was recognized by the West as president, said that European politicians do not have balls. And he himself actually boasts that he has. Is it possible to say that Western politicians are trying to be responsible and are afraid that if the conflict escalates, Putin is ready to do more than they are ready to do?

- This brings us to the fundamental question of the art of government and politics. Appeasement politics or confrontation - which is better? We have learned from World War II and the experience of Hitler's Nazi regime that appeasing dictators does not work.

If we were to seriously oppose Vladimir Putin, then he does not have the tools to fight us. All these cyberattacks and contract killings are hybrid warfare. He does not have the resources for a real confrontation.

Lukashenka may have been right - the West really gave up before the bluff. I would call it that. To use the poker analogy, the United States has a full house, the strongest combination of cards, while Vladimir Putin only has a pair of deuces. If we showed our cards, he would no doubt lose. And the fact that we do not behave more harshly with him shows the weakness of leadership in the West.

- You are one of the main enemies of the Putin regime. Are you afraid of attempts at poisoning, other encroachments on life, even if you are, so to speak, in the heart of the free world - in the United States or Britain?

- I have to take various measures which I cannot describe to you here. But you can imagine - if a person like Vladimir Putin adds you to the list of those who should be killed, then you have to be careful, of course.

"It is necessary to obtain consent to sanctions while there is general attention"

- Do you think that now, when the incident with the forced landing of a plane in Belarus took place, the European Union will have the political will to adopt tougher sanctions against the Lukashenka regime?

- It often happens that everyone becomes very are emotional and preoccupied with the situation for a short time, and then everyone is forgotten about it. And, until everyone starts to forget about it, you need to get everyone's attention and get consent to sanctions.

I'm afraid we may see another such situation where an unsatisfactory sanctions list is being created and generally an unsatisfactory response to the Ryanair hijacking.

The consequences of this would be fatal. After all, all the other dictators are now watching this to see what happens. If nothing serious happens, they will say: "Okay, now we have a new tool to fight our enemies!"

- This situation has also shown to many in Belarus that, although there were already more than 400 political prisoners and some people were killed, there was not such an active reaction, but when a threat to international security appeared, it caused a public reaction. What would you say to those people in Belarus who now feel like hostages of this regime?

- Now you have the opportunity, as the world is closely following events. We need to use this opportunity and make every effort to get the West to accept sanctions against Lukashenka. Now is the window of opportunity, the whole world is watching the situation.

Even if you consider such a reaction cynical, if the world is not too worried about other political prisoners, but only cares about one, it does not matter. This is the moment when the world is looking at you closely, and you need to grab this moment with both hands.

- My last question: you said at the beginning that President Putin was very angry with the Magnitsky act. But Putin has been in power for so many years. Do you think that the sanctions were not strong enough, and, in general, do you think that sanctions can somehow lead to a change of power in countries such as Russia and Belarus?

- The purpose of the sanctions in the Magnitsky Act is not to change the regime. The purpose of these sanctions was to create targeted and real punishments for the actions of the regime. All we can do is try to contain the actions of Putin and Lukashenka.

Only the Russians and Belarusians themselves can overthrow these regimes. Our task is to support those people who are terrorized by exposing terror and creating consequences for specific cases. This is all we can do.

Putin will stay in power as long as the Russians allow him to stay in power. The same applies to Belarusians. I cannot say that it is my task to overthrow the government. I have no such intention. My task is to punish the criminal actions of the authorities.