Stop the Untouchables. Justice for Sergei Magnitsky.

British MPs paint scary picture of Putin’s Russia

EU Observer

British MPs have in a discussion on the death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky described Putin’s Russia as a mafia state.

Coming two days after several EU leaders and top EU officials congratulated Vladimir Putin on winning elections despite the fact international monitors said they were rigged, the discussion painted a frightening picture of life in the European Union’s biggest neighbour.

Conservative deputy Dom Raab described what happened to Magnitsky in 2009 after he blew the whistle on senior tax officials who embezzled $230 million of state funds.

“He was dumped in a filthy, freezing and overcrowded cell for eight months and fed putrid meals such as porridge with insect larvae and rotten fish, if and when he was fed at all. In such squalid conditions, he suffered acutely painful bladder and pancreatic problems. Eventually, a year after his arrest, he was transferred to hospital for emergency surgery, but when he arrived he was not treated at all. Instead, he was handcuffed to a bed and beaten by riot police. Doctors found him an hour later, lying on the floor. He was dead.”