Stop the Untouchables. Justice for Sergei Magnitsky.

Russia drops Magnitsky prison death probe

BBC

Russian detectives are dropping their investigation into the death in prison of the lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky.

The Investigative Committee said no crime was committed against him. He was detained in 2008 after revealing alleged an embezzlement scam by interior ministry officials.

His family and the Presidential Human Rights Council say he was badly beaten and denied medical treatment.

Despite his death, he is himself being put on trial for fraud.

The Investigative Committee, the Russian equivalent of the FBI in the US, said Magnitsky had been legally arrested and legally detained and that he had not been tortured.

“Based on the preliminary investigation’s results, a decision was taken to end the criminal case due to a lack of evidence of a crime,” the Committee said.

Magnitsky, who died at the age of 37 in pre-trial detention after developing pancreatitis, was arrested after testifying that interior ministry officials, with organised criminals, had used the UK-based investment fund Hermitage Capital to embezzle $230m (£150m) by filing false corporate tax returns.

In December, a Moscow court acquitted a prison doctor accused of negligence over the lawyer’s death. Dmitry Kratov had argued that he was unable to ensure medical care because of a shortage of staff.