Stop the Untouchables. Justice for Sergei Magnitsky.

Russia says attorney died from lack of medical aid in jail, activist blames beating by guards

The Canadian Press

Russian investigators admitted Monday for the first time that a Russian lawyer who accused officials of corruption died in jail due to a lack of medical treatment _ but a rights activist said the death came after a brutal beating by prison guards.

Sergi Magnitsky, a 37-year-old lawyer who worked for a large U.S. investment fund, died in prison in November 2009 after the pancreatitis he developed there went untreated. He had been arrested by Interior Ministry officials after he had accused them of using false tax papers to steal $230 million from the state.

Magnitsky’s case is being scrutinized by human rights activists and potential Western investors as a gauge of the Kremlin’s commitment to addressing corruption and allowing an independent legal system. Several prison officials were fired but no one has been charged either for his death or in the alleged tax fraud.