Stop the Untouchables. Justice for Sergei Magnitsky.

EU urges action over Russian lawyer’s death

Financial Times

By Catherine Belton in Moscow

Herman Van Rompuy, European Council president, has called on Dmitry Medvedev to bring to a “credible” close an investigation into the death in jail of Sergei Magnitsky, the anti-corruption lawyer, before his term as Russian president expires.

Calling the case “emblematic” for “the state of the rule of law and judiciary” in Russia, Mr Van Rompuy said in a letter, dated April 18, to the Russian president and seen by the Financial Times, that bringing the investigation to “credible and thorough conclusion before the end of your term would be of symbolic relevance and send a very important signal for the future of Russia”.

Mr Medvedev came to power pledging to crack down on corruption and to boost the independence of the courts. But critics say the lack of progress in investigating Magnitsky’s death is symbolic of the president’s inability to take his pledges beyond the level of rhetoric over his four-year term. Mr Medvedev is due on May 7 to hand over the presidency to Vladimir Putin, his mentor who as prime minister had continued to be seen as Russia’s paramount leader.

The official investigation into Magnitsky’s death is due to be completed on April 24, more than two years after he died in jail in November 2009, sparking an international outcry. His death came more than a year after he alleged that a circle of interior ministry and tax ministry officials had conspired to defraud the Russian budget through a $230m tax fraud scam.