Posts Tagged ‘gorokhov’
Russia to try dead whistleblower on March 11
A Russian court will start the posthumous trial of a dead anti-corruption lawyer next week after ignoring calls by his family and lawyers to abandon a case they say is absurd and politically motivated.
Sergei Magnitsky’s death in custody in 2009, after he had complained repeatedly of being denied medical treatment, has damaged Russia’s image and strained ties with the United States.
But Moscow’s Tverskoy Court said after a pre-trial hearing on Monday that the trial itself would open on March 11, a court spokeswoman said.
Lawyers say Magnitsky, who was 37 and was accused of tax fraud after investigating similar claims against his accusers, will be the first dead person to go on trial in Russia.
“The trial is indeed absurd,” said lawyer Alexander Molokhov after the court rejected his application to defend Magnitsky.
The court had already appointed a legal team to defend Magnitsky after his own lawyers refused to take part in a trial which his relatives say is politically motivated.
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U.S.-Russia Relations Continue To Falter With Prosecution Of Dead Man
Russia is prosecuting a dead man, corruption whistle-blower Sergei Magnitsky, in a case that has severely complicated U.S.-Russia relations. Congress passed a bill that will punish anyone involved in the Magnitsky case and other major human rights violators in Russia. The Russian parliament responded by banning adoptions by American families of Russian children. It is against this backdrop that the new Secretary of State John Kerry finds himself searching for ways to reset relations once again.
MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:
You are listening to ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News.
Next week, Secretary of State John Kerry sets off on his first official trip. He’ll head to both Europe and the Middle East. He will not be visiting Russia but aides say he might meet his Russian counterparts somewhere on the trip.
They have a lot to talk about, from the crisis in Syria to a dispute over adoptions, as NPR’s Michele Kelemen reports.
MICHELE KELEMEN, BYLINE: There are many signs that U.S./Russian relations are in the tank. One example is playing out in a Russian courtroom, where a dead man is going on trial next month.
NIKOLAI GOROKHOV: (Foreign language spoken)
KELEMEN: This is Nikolai Gorokhov, a lawyer representing the family of Sergei Magnitsky, the corruption whistle-blower who died in a Russian prison three years ago.
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Russia opens trial of dead lawyer Magnitsky
A Russian court has opened the fraud trial against Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer who died in prison in 2009 after accusing state officials of a multimillion-dollar tax scam.
The posthumous trial on Monday was initially scheduled for last December, but the judge adjourned the hearing after his family’s defence lawyers refused to participate, saying trying a dead man was illegal.
Because no lawyer for the Magnitsky family showed up, the judge ordered the lawyers association to appoint a defense attorney for the next preliminary hearing on February 18.
“Participation in this process is illegal and immoral,” Nikolay Gorokhov said in an interview with Al Jazeera’s Emma Hayward.
“Sergei Magnitsky’s mother and I characterise it as dancing on the bones of a dead man because you can not prosecute someone who is dead.”
The whistleblowing lawyer’s family has also refused to participate saying it is politically motivated.
“I think it is inhuman to try a dead man,” Magnitsky’s mother Natalya told Reuters news agency 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, 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 $230m theft by law enforcement and tax officials through fraudulent tax refunds.
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Russia presses on with plans to try dead whistleblower
Russia pushed forward with plans for the posthumous trial of a lawyer on tax evasion charges on Monday, despite a boycott by relatives and lawyers who said President Vladimir Putin’s government was “dancing on the grave of a dead man”.
Sergei Magnitsky died in 2009 after complaining repeatedly he was denied treatment as his health declined in jail, prompting the United States last month to bar entry to Russians accused of involvement in his death or serious rights abuses.
Putin, restored to the presidency in May, has dismissed the international furor over the case, saying last month the lawyer had died of a heart attack.
Although Putin has rejected suggestions Magnitsky was tortured in prison, the Kremlin’s own human rights council has voiced suspicions he was beaten to death.
Magnitsky’s former employer, investment fund Hermitage Capital, says the lawyer was killed because he had accused law enforcement and tax officers of stealing $230 million from the state by setting up bogus tax refunds.
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Russia presses on with plans to try dead whistleblower
Russia pushed forward with plans for the posthumous trial of a lawyer on tax evasion charges on Monday, despite a boycott by relatives and lawyers who said President Vladimir Putin’s government was “dancing on the grave of a dead man”.
Sergei Magnitsky died in 2009 after complaining repeatedly he was denied treatment as his health declined in jail, prompting the United States last month to bar entry to Russians accused of involvement in his death or serious rights abuses.
Putin, restored to the presidency in May, has dismissed the international furor over the case, saying last month the lawyer had died of a heart attack.
Although Putin has rejected suggestions Magnitsky was tortured in prison, the Kremlin’s own human rights council has voiced suspicions he was beaten to death.
Magnitsky’s former employer, investment fund Hermitage Capital, says the lawyer was killed because he had accused law enforcement and tax officers of stealing $230 million from the state by setting up bogus tax refunds.
Magnitsky’s mother and her attorney refused to show up for a preliminary hearing for a trial they denounced as a politically motivated attack on a dead man, forcing the Moscow court hearing the case to appoint defense lawyers.
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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 theft by law enforcement and tax officials through fraudulent tax refunds.
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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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Russia puts dead lawyer Magnitsky on trial
Russia on Thursday opened a fraud trial against Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer whose prison death in 2009 led to the biggest US-Russia row in years, despite protests by the defence it was illegal to try a dead man.
The Magnitsky family defence lawyers refused to participate in an “unconstitutional” process against a dead man and the judge was forced to adjourn the hearing until the new year.
“The preliminary hearing into Magnitsky’s case has been moved to January 28 due to the absence of the lawyers from the defence,” the press service of the Tverskoy district court in Moscow told AFP.
Magnitsky was arrested in 2008 and spent nearly a year in squalid prison conditions, dying at the age of 37 of untreated illnesses. A report by the Kremlin human rights council last year said he was tortured and handcuffed in his final hours.
Before his arrest, the lawyer said he uncovered a tax scam worth 5.4 billion rubles ($235 million) against the company he worked for, investment fund Hermitage Capital, which involved interior ministry officials.
But he was then charged with the very crimes he claimed to have uncovered and was placed in pre-trial detention. The case was closed after his death but then reopened in August 2011.
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Russian prison doctor pleads not guilty of negligence in death of lawyer Magnitsky
The first Russian official charged in the death of Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer who died in prison after reporting a multimillion-dollar tax fraud, went on trial Thursday and pleaded not guilty.
Dmitry Kratov, formerly a doctor in Moscow’s Butyrka prison, was charged with negligence.
Kratov’s attorney, Roman Kuchin, said his client denied the charges because he was not able to ensure medical care for Magnitsky in prison due to a shortage of staff.
Magnitsky, who in 2007 who had accused Interior Ministry officials of using false tax documents to steal $230 million from the state, died in custody from untreated pancreatitis in 2009. An investigation by Russia’s presidential council on human rights concluded that Magnitsky was severely beaten and denied medical treatment. It accused the government of failing to prosecute those responsible.
Magnitsky’s relatives and colleagues say by charging the prison doctors, authorities are trying to cover up for the police officers and the investigators who denied Magnitsky’s pleas to be released. The lawyer died before he was brought to trial.
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