Russia set to start posthumous trial of whistleblower Magnitsky
Russia prepared to put whistleblowing lawyer Sergei Magnitsky on trial more than three years after his death, with a preliminary hearing set for Monday in a move relatives and rights groups called politically motivated and a travesty of justice.
Magnitsky’s death in a Moscow jail has harmed Russia’s image abroad and badly strained relations with the United States.
His mother and her lawyer said they refused to participate.
“I think it is inhuman to try a dead man,” Magnitsky’s mother Natalya told Reuters by telephone. “This is not a court case but some kind of farce, and I will not take part in it.”
Magnitsky was 37 when he died after 358 days in jail on suspicion of tax evasion and fraud, during which he said he was denied treatment as his health declined. The Kremlin’s own human rights council aired suspicions he was beaten to death.
Russian authorities said he died of a heart attack, but his former employer, investment fund Hermitage Capital, says he was killed because he was investigating a $230 million theft by law enforcement and tax officials through fraudulent tax refunds.
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Sergei Magnitsky’s Russian trial condemned as ‘absurd’
A Moscow trial to prosecute the dead whistle-blowing lawyer who exposed huge tax fraud among Russian officials has been labelled a “Stalin show trial” and an “absurd” attempt to discredit him.
Sergei Magnitsky died in custody in November 2009 at the age of 37 after being abused and denied essential medical treatment by prison officials.
The lawyer had been jailed after being accused of the very same crime that he revealed, which involved senior policemen and tax officials.
The case against him was closed a fortnight after his death but was later restarted and Moscow’s Tverskoy Court is to hold an initial hearing in the unprecedented posthumous trial starting on Monday.
William Browder, the head of the UK-based investment fund that Mr Magnitsky worked for, is also to be tried, albeit in absentia.
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The Son Of Putin’s Worst Enemy Explains What’s Going Wrong With Russia
Relations between Russia and the U.S. have recently hit a rough patch.
In December, Congress passed the Magnitsky Act, which will create a black list of Russian officials suspected of human rights abuses. Hermitage Capital founder William Brouder had lobbied for years for the legislation, which is named after Sergei Magnitsky, a Hermitage-lawyer who died in a Moscow jail after accusing officials of involvement in an enormous tax fraud.
Before the list could even be finalized, however, the Russian Duma hit back with its own legislation seeking to ban the adoption of Russian children by U.S. families. Russian media had complained about high profile cases of abuse for years, but the timing and severity of the legislation made it clear this was retaliation.
Given that just a few years ago we were talking about a U.S.-Russia “reset” in relations, the whole thing seems like a remarkable step backwards for the two countries. Add to that an ongoing clampdown on dissent in the country — most notably in the case of the anti-Putin feminist group Pussy Riot — and strict new legislation on homosexuality, the situation in Russia looks dark.
For insight on the matter, we talked to Pavel Khodorkovsky, the head of the Institute of Modern Russia and the son of a bitter enemy of President Vladimir Putin. Pavel’s father, Mikhail, was once Russia’s richest man, head of the enormous Yukos oil company with a personal fortune of $15 billion. A public spat with President Vladimir Putin, however, left him as one of Russia’s most famous prison inmates — and one of Putin’s most outspoken critics.
Pavel hasn’t been back to Russia since his father’s arrest, but keeps in close correspondence with Mikhail, monitoring events in Russia. He explained how the adoption ban seemed to be a bargaining chip for Russia, and one that Russian orphans would lose out from. He admitted that his family’s hope for the Russian opposition had initially been high, but that the Kremlin’s clampdown means “criteria by which we judge the progress will have to change.” Finally, he explained why the Magnitsky Act was so important, not just in the Hermitage Capital case, but also for other jailed dissidents, such as his father.
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Russia Tries to Prosecute a Dead Whistle-Blower
Russia took the unusual step of attempting to put a dead man on trial Monday, when it tried to open posthumous proceedings against Sergei L. Magnitsky, the whistle-blowing lawyer who died three years ago in a Moscow jail cell.
The effort to prosecute Mr. Magnitsky — which was postponed when Mr. Magnitsky’s legal team refused to participate — stoked tensions in a case that has already damaged Russia’s image abroad and strained relations with the United States.
Mr. Magnitsky was 37 when he died in a Russian jail, where he had been held for nearly a year. The authorities said he was detained on tax evasion charges and died of a heart attack. His advocates say that he was jailed for investigating hundreds of millions of dollars possibly taken by the authorities in a fraudulent tax case, and that he was beaten and denied medical care.
Last month, the United States Congress passed a law barring anyone linked to Mr. Magnitsky’s imprisonment or the initial fraud from entering the United States. In retaliation, Russia’s Parliament in December prohibited Americans from adopting Russian orphans.
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Russia set to start posthumous trial of whistleblower Magnitsky
Russia prepared to put whistleblowing lawyer Sergei Magnitsky on trial more than three years after his death, with a preliminary hearing set for Monday in a move relatives and rights groups called politically motivated and a travesty of justice.
Magnitsky’s death in a Moscow jail has harmed Russia’s image abroad and badly strained relations with the United States.
His mother and her lawyer said they refused to participate.
“I think it is inhuman to try a dead man,” Magnitsky’s mother Natalya told Reuters by telephone. “This is not a court case but some kind of farce, and I will not take part in it.”
Magnitsky was 37 when he died after 358 days in jail on suspicion of tax evasion and fraud, during which he said he was denied treatment as his health declined. The Kremlin’s own human rights council aired suspicions he was beaten to death.
Russian authorities said he died of a heart attack, but his former employer, investment fund Hermitage Capital, says he was killed because he was investigating a $230 million (145 million pounds) theft by law enforcement and tax officials through fraudulent tax refunds.
Relatives and former colleagues including Hermitage owner William Browder, who also faces trial in absentia, say Magnitsky was investigated and jailed by some of the same mid-level officials he told authorities had defrauded the state.
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Shadow of Magnitsky case reaches Switzerland
The case of Sergei Magnitsky, the anti-corruption lawyer who died a lonely and agonising death in a Moscow prison cell, has become an international cause celebre. Campaigners for justice have followed part of the money trail to Switzerland.
While working for an American law firm in Moscow in 2007, Magnitsky uncovered the largest tax refund fraud in Russian history, involving the theft of companies belonging to his client Bill Browder, formerly one of the most successful foreign investors in Russia through his firm Hermitage Capital Management.
For his efforts the 37-year-old lawyer was falsely arrested and held in pre-trial detention for 11 months, where he suffered torture and medical neglect resulting in his death in November 2009.
This version of events, accepted by the United States, the European Parliament, Amnesty International and the Russian opposition movement, is still disputed by the Russian authorities, who are pressing ahead with a posthumous prosecution of Magnitsky. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for January 28.
Earlier this month, the Swiss Federal Prosecutor’s Office announced it was freezing additional accounts in connection with its money laundering investigation into “persons unknown” in the Magnitsky case. This is the first public move since prosecutors blocked related accounts in March 2011.
The office declined to give details of the investigation other than to say that it was “continually turning up new findings that require additional examination”. The Russian government has not commented officially on the Swiss prosecutors’ move.
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Investor seeks justice at Davos for attorney killed in Russian prison
Each year, the Russian presence at the World Economic Forum seems to grow, with government and business delegations courting investment, as well as the press.
And each year, Bill Browder of Hermitage Capital, comes to Davos to, among other things, seek justice for his lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who he claims was killed in a Russian prison while investigating tax fraud.
Browder, who with the late Edmund Safra founded founded the investment firm which specializes in Russian markets, does not mince words.
“The Russian government plays this silly game,” Browder said. “They wash up, dress up, come to Davos and pretend they are normal, Western business people looking to attract investment, and in my opinion, they shouldn’t be allowed to behave like criminals at home and then dine at our tables with white tablecloths when they come to Davos.”
Browder claims Magnitsky, who was 37, when he died in 2007, was tortured, and ultimately denied medical care in jail. Browder, who had been the biggest foreign portfolio investor in Russia, claims $230 million he paid in taxes to the Russian government was stolen by people with ties to the government. Magnitsky had been looking for the money.
The Russians are defiant about the case, and have not convicted anyone.
But Browder has succeeded in lobbying Washington to pass legislation that places asset freezes and visa bans on the 60-some people he says were in some way involved or complicit in Magnitsky’s death. The law, which carries various sanctions for human rights abusers, is believed to have prompted Russia to ban adoptions of Russian orphans by Americans in retaliation, according to reports.
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Russian tycoons concerned as Magnitsky fallout spreads
Reuters
* Death of anti-corruption lawyer creates intl tensions
* Executives concerned about impact of standoff with U.S.
* Investigations have taken place in 3 European countries
* Swiss and others have been conduits for Russian funds
* Magnitsky case seen adding to negative view of Russia
By Dmitry Zhdannikov and Darya Korsunskaya
DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 25 (Reuters) – It began with the death of an anti-corruption lawyer in a Moscow jail and grew into a row between Russia and the United States. Now Russia’s business elite are worried their interests could be harmed by fallout from the Magnitsky affair.
With international concern spreading after the 2009 death of Sergei Magnitsky, some Russian tycoons are worried their legitimate cross-border money transfers involving anything from industrial investments to luxury properties will get hit by red tape.
And they complain that the Kremlin’s hard-line stance on Magnitsky is not doing them any favours.
“The Russian business (community) is absolutely united. The situation is more than bad and things may well spread to the EU and UK and God knows who could be sucked in,” said a Russian billionaire, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
The billionaire asked not to be named as he said the Russian business establishment was still afraid of bringing up the matter with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Russian business has tried to stay out of politics since the country’s then richest man Mikhail Khodorkovsky was jailed for tax evasion in the last decade, a move Putin’s critics say was revenge for Khodorkovsky’s political ambitions.
Magnitsky died in a Moscow prison while in pre-trial custody on tax evasion changes.
Authorities said the 37-year-old died of a heart attack, but his former employer, investment fund Hermitage Capital, says he was killed because he was investigating a $230 million theft by mid-ranking interior and tax officials.
The Russian business elite was at first broadly indifferent to the case, but that changed last year when the United States introduced its “Magnitsky Act”, imposing sanctions on dozens of Russians, whom Hermitage and its owner Bill Browder accused of being involved in money laundering and the lawyer’s death.
Russia responded by banning the adoption of Russian children by Americans. And subsequently the fallout from the affair has increased.
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Russian whistle-blower’s mother thanks Obama for law named after her dead son
The mother of a whistle-blowing Russian lawyer who died in prison is thanking President Barack Obama for a U.S. law targeting Russian officials deemed to be human rights violators involved in her son’s death.
Sergei Magnitsky died in jail of untreated pancreatitis in 2009 after accusing Russian officials of stealing $230 million from the state. The case has angered both Russian activists and the West, and in December, the U.S. Congress passed legislation in Magnitsky’s name, calling for sanctions against officials deemed to be connected with human rights abuses.
Natalya Magnitskaya said Thursday she is grateful to Obama for facilitating the adoption of the bill saying that it “will somehow keep my son’s memory.”
She also criticized Moscow’s decision to bar Americans from adopting Russian children in retaliation. быстрые займы онлайн займы на карту без отказа https://zp-pdl.com/emergency-payday-loans.php https://zp-pdl.com/emergency-payday-loans.php займ на карту без отказов круглосуточно
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To learn more about what happened to Sergei Magnitsky please read below
- Sergei Magnitsky
- Why was Sergei Magnitsky arrested?
- Sergei Magnitsky’s torture and death in prison
- President’s investigation sabotaged and going nowhere
- The corrupt officers attempt to arrest 8 lawyers
- Past crimes committed by the same corrupt officers
- Petitions requesting a real investigation into Magnitsky's death
- Worldwide reaction, calls to punish those responsible for corruption and murder
- Complaints against Lt.Col. Kuznetsov
- Complaints against Major Karpov
- Cover up
- Press about Magnitsky
- Bloggers about Magnitsky
- Corrupt officers:
- Sign petition
- Citizen investigator
- Join Justice for Magnitsky group on Facebook
- Contact us
- Sergei Magnitsky
