Russia Reopens Tax Case of Lawyer Who Died in Custody

The New York Times. By ELLEN BARRY

MOSCOW — Russian prosecutors said on Tuesday that they had reopened a criminal tax evasion case against a man who died in 2009 — Sergei L. Magnitsky, a lawyer who had accused police officials of corruption and then was arrested.

A spokeswoman for the prosecutors’ office said the decision was made “bearing in mind the opinion of Mr. Magnitsky’s family and friends,” because it could result in clearing his name. But Mr. Magnitsky’s aunt, Tatyana Rudenko, said that no one in the family had been consulted, and that the family greeted the news with “great wariness.”

Global criticism of Russia over Mr. Magnitsky’s death while in pretrial detention has been mounting. The State Department said last week that it had banned a list of Russian officials who were linked to Mr. Magnitsky’s death from visiting the United States. The Russian Foreign Ministry condemned the move as “arbitrary punishment,” and warned that it might retaliate.

The case has also produced tensions within the Russian government. The Interior Ministry appears to have dismissed the findings of a human rights commission set up by President Dmitri A. Medvedev, which said last month that powerful police officials at the ministry should be prosecuted in the matter, not just the prison doctors who oversaw Mr. Magnitsky’s care. A July 14 letter from the ministry said it “sees no basis for carrying out an investigation into illegal activities by members of the investigative group.”

Mr. Magnitsky was detained in 2008 on suspicion of helping his employer, Hermitage Capital, evade $17.4 million in taxes. The prosecution came after Mr. Magnitsky testified against senior Interior Ministry officials, saying they had used Hermitage companies to embezzle $230 million from the Russian treasury. Mr. Magnitsky’s supporters believe the prosecution was retaliatory, and that investigators assigned to his case — who included individuals he had accused — denied him medical care.

The reopening of the case against Mr. Magnitsky, who was 37, flowed from a Constitutional Court decision last week allowing review of cases against dead people. William F. Browder, chief executive of Hermitage Capital, said the reopening of the case was an attempt by the Interior Ministry to obtain a court decision exonerating its officials.

Dmitry Babich of the state-run news agency Ria Novosti, said, “Even if Magnitsky’s guilt in tax evasion will be proven, this does not remove responsibility from the people who let him die in prison.”

A version of this article appeared in print on August 3, 2011, on page A6 of the New York edition with the headline: Russia Reopens Tax Case of Lawyer Who Died in Custody. unshaven girls онлайн займ https://zp-pdl.com/online-payday-loans-cash-advances.php https://zp-pdl.com/apply-for-payday-loan-online.php онлайн займ