In 2008 Miles and Carol Harrison from Virginia adopt Dimitri a beautiful blue eyed orphaned boy from Russia. When Dimitri tragically dies after Miles accidentally leaves him behind in a car, the Harrisons’ world falls apart. Their precious baby is gone. Miles is put on suicide watch. They must face a grueling trial where Miles is accused of manslaughter.They are vilified by neighbors and are trapped in their house by a swarm of press. The deep love they have for each other is the only thing that keeps them hanging on.
In 2009 in Russia, an honorable tax lawyer is imprisoned and tortured after he uncovers a quarter of a billion tax fraud in the Russian government . When the lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky dies at 37 after a brutal beating, his employer, Bill Browder, an investment banker with a $4.5 billion portfolio in Russia,feels responsible. Had Magnitsky not worked for him, he would still be alive. Browder determines to bring the perpetrators of this human rights crime to justice and takes Magnitsky’s family to Washington to plead their case. He wants the U.S. to impose sanctions on the perpetrators of Magnitsky’s death. But U.S. relations with Russia are tenuous and politicians are reluctant to rock the boat. Browder, however is relentless and after years of campaigning receives worldwide support.
On Dec 14th 2012 Obama signs The Magnitsky Law which refuses visas to any official involved in Magnitsky’s death while also freezing their assets in the U.S.
On Dec 28th 2012 , to punish the U.S., Putin signs The Adoption Ban …banning American parents from ever adopting Russian orphans .
Putin signs the law in the name of the Harrisons’ son Dimitri.
Miles and Carol are destroyed , feeling guilt and blame for the blockage .The lives of hundreds of orphans and the adoptive U.S. parents they’ve grown to love are now without hope.
Meanwhile, Miles Harrison and Bill Browder become enemies of the state in Russia and are linked in a political chess game between Obama and Putin.
