Bill Browder in Cambridge

In 2023 the Kirby Laing Centre hosted Bill Browder for an event in Cambridge exploring his life and work. This video consists of the interview portion of the event between Bill Browder and KLC Director, Rev Dr Craig Bartholomew. It begins with a reading of George Hobson’s poem, Afgan Woman, read by KLC Fellow and Trustee Genevieve Wedgbury. Bill Browder is the Founder and CEO of Hermitage Capital Management and Head of the Global Magnitsky Justice Campaign. Bill is the author of the best-sellers Red Notice and Freezing Order. Both books are riveting, searing, and essential reading. Bill was the largest foreign investor in Russia until 2005, when he was denied entry to the country and declared “a threat to national security” for exposing corruption in Russian state-owned companies. In 2008, his lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, uncovered a massive fraud committed by Russian government officials. Sergei testified against state officials and was subsequently arrested, imprisoned without trial, and systematically tortured. He spent a year in prison under horrific detention conditions and died in prison in 2009. His crime was that as a Christian he would not bear false witness. As Bill writes in chapter 29 of Red Notice, “Sergei was religious and he would not violate God’s ninth commandment: ‘Thou shalt not bear false witness.’” Since then, Bill has sought justice outside of Russia and started a global campaign for governments around the world to impose targeted visa bans and asset freezes on human rights abusers and highly corrupt officials.