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International Denunciation of JASTA… Moscow: Washington will be Facing the World | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with members of the Security Council at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, July 5, 2016. Sputnik/Kremlin/Alexei Druzhinin/via REUTERS


Moscow- Brussels- International fury continued to rise against the United States’ recent controversial bill the “Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act”, otherwise known as JASTA, which was later vetoed by U.S. President Barack Obama.

Among the international states, Moscow showcased an unparalleled reaction warning Washington that the bill would literally threaten the U.S. worldwide position.

Russia has slammed the legislation as undermining international law.

Russia’s ministry for foreign affairs made a statement elaborating on the recent presidential veto which faced the bill. The statement said that Obama read into what would happen, should the bill be passed, especially with a ripple effect which could blow up against the U.S.

“Washington has once again demonstrated total disregard for international law, legalizing the possibility of filing lawsuits in U.S. courts against states suspected of supporting terrorism,” the Foreign Ministry’s Information and Press Department said in a statement, as cited by RIA Novosti.

“The United States, where many politicians have come to believe in their own ‘uniqueness,’ insistently continues along the line of extending its jurisdiction to the entire world, disregarding the notions of state sovereignty and common sense,” the statement reads further.

The Russian Foreign Ministry also pointed to the fact that “it reached the point that in this case, even the Obama administration, which is usually willing to juristically blackmail other countries, was against [JASTA].”

Speaking from Brussels, European Union Spokesperson also disapproved JASTA saying that it represent a direct threat to the interests of both the EU and the U.S.

The EU official also condemned JASTA, saying it contradicts with fundamental principles of international law.

The bill, known as the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, or JASTA, could set a precedent for a panoply of lawsuits unrelated to 9/11 against foreign countries in U.S. courts and against the United States in foreign courts, said legal scholar Stephen I. Vladeck in an interview conducted after the president’s veto.

Vladeck also made mention that JASTA stands to be at best symbolic, and will not legally lead to families of victims receiving any compensation.