Russia puts dead lawyer Sergei Magnitsky on trial

The Times

Russia is to press ahead with an extraordinary trial to put a dead man in the dock, in a move his family has described as “inhuman”.

The whistleblowing lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who died in pre-trial detention three years ago, tried to expose a $230 million scam – and now faces posthumous prosecution for alleged tax evasion.

“It is cynical and inhuman,” said Mr Magnitsky’s mother Natalya, in a statement read out in court by the family lawyer. Mrs Magnitsky has been urging defence lawyers not to come forward to represent her dead son since that would legitimise the case.

However, a Moscow court today shrugged off the family’s protests, appointed defence lawyers against their will and indicated that the trial is likely to go ahead, some time after a second preliminary hearing on March 4.

The case of Mr Magnitsky has become a thorn in US-Russian relations.

Largely thanks to the lobbying of William Browder, chief of Hermitage Capital – once a major investor in Russia – the United States has passed a Magnitsky Act. Under this law, several dozen Russian officials linked to Mr Magnitsky’s death in prison are to be denied entry to the US and have their assets frozen.
Hermitage Capital, an investment fund which employed Mr Magnitsky, says he was killed because he had accused senior police officers of being in cahoots with tax officials and embezzling $230 million by setting up fake tax refunds.

Mr Magnitsky was detained, denied medical treatment, was allegedly beaten and died of a heart attack in his cell, aged 37. No Russian official has ever been convicted in connection with his death.

After the US decision to punish the Russian officials, European Union members and other states have been considering similar action and have been digging up financial information about the men and women mentioned on the list. This has angered the Russian authorities, as many members of the elite have foreign bank accounts, properties and children at foreign schools.

The Magnitsky family lawyer, Nikolai Gorokhov, says the trial is designed to discredit the late Sergei Magnitsky and Mr Browder who will be tried in absentia.

The dead can only be prosecuted in Russia in an attempt to rehabilitate others who may have suffered at his or her hands.

“The fact that this posthumous trial is going ahead indicates that justice in Russia is turning into raw and outright blasphemy, “ said a statement issued by Hermitage Capital. срочный займ на карту срочный займ на карту онлайн https://zp-pdl.com/apply-for-payday-loan-online.php https://zp-pdl.com/fast-and-easy-payday-loans-online.php hairy girl