Russia Says It Will Try Jail Doctors in ’09 Case

New York Times
Twenty months after a 37-year-old lawyer died in pretrial detention after repeatedly requesting medical care, the authorities on Monday announced that criminal cases have been opened against two former prison doctors in connection with his death.

The announcement came as lawmakers in several countries threatened to impose sanctions on officials linked to the prosecution of the lawyer, Sergei L. Magnitsky, who had been drawn into a feud between Russian officials and his employer, Hermitage Capital, an investment fund based in London.

Russia’s top investigative body said the two suspects in Mr. Magnitsky’s death were Dr. Larisa Litvinova, who oversaw Mr. Magnitsky’s treatment during the last weeks of his life; and Dr. Dmitri Kratov, formerly the chief medical officer of Butyrskaya Prison.

Dr. Litvinova faces charges of causing death through professional negligence, which could bring a sentence of up to three years in prison, and Dr. Kratov of negligence causing involuntary manslaughter, which could bring five years.

Additional people may still be charged in connection with Mr. Magnitsky’s death, said a statement by the Investigative Committee, Russia’s top investigative body.

Mr. Magnitsky’s family and former colleagues at Hermitage Capital have long contended that the official inquiry needed to extend beyond prison staff to include the more powerful figures who oversaw his arrest and 11-month detention. In particular, they have sought the prosecution of Oleg F. Silchenko, the lead investigator in the case against Mr. Magnitsky. In May, investigators announced that Mr. Silchenko had been cleared of any wrongdoing.

Mr. Magnitsky’s death had a surprising resonance in Moscow, where a respected daily newspaper declared that “a man who, from a legal point of view, was innocent, died in prison in the most medieval way.” Russia’s Interior Ministry, which oversaw the case against Mr. Magnitsky, insisted that he “never once complained to investigators about the state of his health” and that his death came without warning.

But an independent prison watchdog commission published a report concluding that prison doctors were under pressure from investigators to deny treatment to Mr. Magnitsky, whom they had hoped would testify against his employer.

In a report released a few weeks after Mr. Magnitsky’s death, the Public Oversight Commission leaned heavily on an interview with Dr. Litvinova. She told them that the day before Mr. Magnitsky’s death he was vomiting every three hours, his stomach was swollen and “it was necessary to push for an examination — I thought he had a chronic disease.”

Valery V. Borshchev, the commission’s head, said Dr. Litvinova made it clear to commission members that she was trying to win investigators’ approval to get treatment for Mr. Magnitsky.

“At that point, she was not being accused,” he said. “She could have been silent. She was not being charged. Now that it is a question of criminal responsibility, she will not be quiet. At least this is what I am hoping.”

Dr. Kratov, meanwhile, was demoted shortly after Mr. Magnitsky’s death. Commission members recalled running into him by chance after their report was made public; he grew angry at them, saying that as a result of their investigation, he could not get work in private hospitals, and neither he nor his relatives could travel internationally.

Among the sanctions being sought by Hermitage Capital is denial of American and European visas to a list of 60 Russian officials who were involved in the case against Mr. Magnitsky. buy over the counter medicines payday loan https://zp-pdl.com/best-payday-loans.php https://zp-pdl.com hairy girl