Stop the Untouchables. Justice for Sergei Magnitsky.

Magnitsky and Russia’s Opportunity Cost

16 November 2010 – November 16th marks the one-year anniversary of the murder of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who was imprisoned last year in Moscow under pre-trial detention and intentionally denied medical care which led to his death. The responsibility lies with the Russian government, and specifically with individual officials who sought to cover up a $230 million tax fraud they had orchestrated using stolen documentation from Magnitsky’s client, Hermitage Capital Management.

No one has ever been held accountable for Magnitsky’s death: no charges, no arrests, no trials, and no justice, despite the mountains of evidence and even the names of the “untouchables” made public. Instead, with a familiar Russian twist, the killers were rewarded with promotions and decorations, while the victim has been blamed for the crime. Those who make a fuss over the Magnitsky incident are investigated, persecuted, and sometimes chased into exile.