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Russian senator suggests compiling ‘Browder’s list’ of politicians lying about Russia

The senator described financier William Browder as "the man who became the first to turn lies about Russia into an instrument of state policy, which is hostile to us"
Senator Konstantin Kosachev Sergei Bobylyov/TASS
Senator Konstantin Kosachev
© Sergei Bobylyov/TASS

MOSCOW, December 25. /TASS/. At a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, senator Konstantin Kosachev suggested compiling a list of foreign politicians, spreading the most outrageous lies about Russia, and name it after British financier William Browder.

"There is an idea to introduce a certain list of outspoken foreign politicians, state officials and public figures who gained notoriety for spreading the most outrageous lies about our country and our people. The list would, of course, also refute their allegations," said Kosachev, who heads the Foreign Affairs committee at the Federation Council, the upper chamber of the Russian parliament.

"The list… could be conventionally named "Browder’s list," after the man who became the first to turn lies about Russia into an instrument of state policy, which is hostile to us," the senator added.

He suggested setting up a provisional Federation Council committee to streamline the work on compiling such a list, adding that attempts to slander Russia and its citizens "should and would be countered not only in the legal domain, but also on the ethical level, via parliamentary mechanisms."

Kosachev said that the growing number of direct attacks on citizens of Russia, including ungrounded detentions and other forms of unlawful treatment, cannot be countered with traditional consular mechanisms alone.

"In our opinion, we should be more creative and proactive in this area. A lot can be done on the inter-parliamentary level, including monitoring the existing agreements and bringing about new documents on legal protection and repatriation," the senator said.

Kosachev added that the problem of extraterritorial application of national legislations must be raised at all relevant international platforms, and efforts are already being made in this sphere.

"There is also an idea of offering guarantees at the parliamentary level that a suspect will be put on a fair trial after being deported to his homeland," he said.