Russian Prosecutors Cover Up Facts of Magnitsky’s Death, Ex-Partner Says

Bloomberg, by Lucian Kim

Prosecutors are obscuring the facts surrounding Sergei Magnitsky’s death in a Moscow prison, the tax lawyer’s former employer said after a prosecutor indicated there was no evidence of physical or psychological abuse in the case.

Those statements are “proof of a high-level, state- sponsored cover-up,” Jamison Firestone, co-founder of the law firm Firestone Duncan, said today in an e-mailed statement.

The November death of Magnitsky, a 37-year-old lawyer advising Hermitage Capital Management, caused outrage over prison conditions in Russia. Firestone, who has since fled Russia, says Magnitsky was punished for testifying against police officers involved in a $230 million tax rebate scam.

“There’s no reason to believe that his death is connected to the activities of officials prosecuting his criminal case,” Alexander Bastrykin, head of the Investigative Committee of the Prosecutor General’s Office, said in an interview published in Rossiiskaya Gazeta, the government’s official newspaper. “Not in one of his statements did he complain about pressure or the use of illegal investigation methods.”

Magnitsky, arrested in November 2008, died of toxic shock and heart failure after 358 days in pre-trial detention, according to a statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry posted on the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia website.

Firestone’s statement cites two of Magnitsky’s 450 official complaints, in which he described “physical and psychological pressure” and said his prosecution was “a repressive measure to punish me.”

Investigators maintain that Hermitage founder William Browder, who was barred from entering Russia in 2005, is using Magnitsky’s death to distract from a pending tax fraud case against him. Browder has said all his companies have been audited and that no tax claims have been filed against them.

Prosecutors are continuing a “calm and objective” investigation of Magnitsky’s case, Bastrykin said.

“It is absolutely absurd and inappropriate that any conclusions have been reached about Sergei’s arrest or death before investigating all the complaints,” Firestone said. “This can only be the result of corruption or stupidity.”
займы на карту срочно быстрые займы на карту zp-pdl.com https://zp-pdl.com микрозаймы онлайн