Russian lawyer says Magnitskiy tax evasion case reopened illegally

Ecko Moskvy

The tax evasion case against late Hermitage Capital lawyer Sergey Magnitskiy, who died in a Moscow remand centre on 16 November 2009, has been reopened illegally, Dmitriy Kharitonov, lawyer of Magnitskiy’s widow, told Russian news agency Interfax on 24 November. Kharitonov also said the investigators should not seek the views of Magnitskiy’s relatives on the case.

Under the law, the case of Magnitskiy can only be reopened for his rehabilitation, however, the Interior Ministry is not ready to take this step, Kharitonov told radio station Echo Moskvy on 24 November.

“They reopened the case not because the family members had asked so but on the initiative of the Prosecutor-General’s Office. If they did so on the initiative of the Prosecutor-General’s Office, then, as far as I understand it, they did this for his rehabilitation. If they want his rehabilitation together with the Prosecutor-General’s Office, let them drop the criminal case on exonerative grounds and let the relatives alone,” Kharitonov told Interfax.

According to the Kharitonov, he was present when Magnitskiy’s widow was questioned by the investigators. “The first thing the investigators did was to warn her not to disclose the details of the preliminary investigation. She knows nothing about the case, nor could she know. All this mystery is about what they are doing to her and what questions they ask,” he said.

“The widow has no view on the matter. She only thinks that the case was originally filed and investigated illegally,” Kharitonov said.

“We are not going to take part in this farce,” he added.

The lawyer said that the investigators’ statement that not all of Magnitskiy’s relatives had been found was puzzling. “If one year while he was in prison, and now two or three months were not enough for them to find all of his relatives, they must quietly close their investigation department and go home. But this is just an empty excuse,” the lawyer said.

“We did not ask for his rehabilitation, and we have no view with respect to rehabilitation. Rehabilitation is now impossible. Nobody will pass a decision that Magnitskiy was not guilty. They will do anything they can to avoid this. Taking this into account, I understand that this is almost impossible. We did not start the reopening of the investigation, they decided so. Let them take further decisions, we do not care,” Kharitonov said.

Interfax reported earlier that the investigation into Magnitskiy’s criminal case had been reopened, quoting the investigations department of the Interior Ministry.

“The criminal investigation against late defendant Magnitskiy has been extended because not all necessary measures to establish all of his close relatives have been completed,” the investigations department said.

According to the Russian Criminal Code, close relatives include spouses, parents, children, brothers and sisters, grandfathers, grandmothers, grandchildren, etc.

“Under the law, all these people must express their opinion on the termination of the investigation,” the Interior Ministry said.

“Until his relatives have a clear position on this issue, the case will be under investigation,” the Investigation Department of the Interior Ministry said.

Head of the Investigations Committee of Russia Aleksandr Bastrykin said the inquiry into the death of lawyer Sergey Magnitskiy has not been completed yet, Russian Interfax news agency reported on 24 November.

So far only two doctors have been charged with involvement with the death of Magnitskiy.

“We do not consider the case completed. The investigation is going on,” Bastrykin told journalists in Moscow on 24 November.

Bastrykin said that the investigation into the involvement of two doctors in the death of Magnitskiy had been completed and would be sent to court soon.

“As for other officials, who may have been involved in the death of Magnitskiy, the investigation continues. It will continue as long as we are 100 per cent sure that we have fully established the group of individuals who are directly or indirectly responsible for his death,” Bastrykin said.
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