Thanks to the impetus of Senators Benjamin L. Cardin and John McCain, the US has already established a visa blacklist on 6o Russian officials who were believed to be implicated in the death in custody of Hermitage Lawyer Sergei Magnitsky in November 2009.  The Magnitsky case has received widespread international attention, thanks in large part to the indefatigable efforts of Hermitage founder Bill Browder and Magntistky’s mother.  The latter recently demanded that a murder investigation be initiated on the basis that a newly unearthed doctor’s report suggested the 39-year old lawyer was tortured in his last hours.  Now it seems, the EU might follow the US’ example by actively contemplating the possibility of restricting the travel of those same blacklisted names in the Schengen zone.  From EU Observer:

Dutch foreign minister Uri Rosenthal has promised to “raise the possibility” of EU sanctions against Russian officials suspected of murdering lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.

Rosenthal in a formal letter to parliament dated 12 September said: “The investigation into the Magnitsky case is ongoing and Russian judicial procedure must be followed. I want to wait for the outcome of the procedure. But if there is good reason in light of the outcome, then I intend to raise the possibility of further EU-level steps.”