Stop the Untouchables. Justice for Sergei Magnitsky.

Russia Put Dead Man on Trial to Avoid Looking Silly

Huffington Post

On Monday 4 March a man called Sergei Magnitsky will go on trial in Moscow for fraud and tax evasion. If he’s found guilty, it’s not clear where Mr Magnitsky will serve his sentence, because he’s been dead since 2009.

Now this is what I call a courtroom drama. Will the defence put their client on the stand, and risk submitting him to cross-examination – presumably via ouija board – or alternatively, will they insist on his right to remain silent?

Will Magnitsky get bail, or will the authorities consider him a flight risk?

Meanwhile, the preliminary hearings for the inquest of Alexander Litvinenko were going on in London last week. He was the Russian former intelligence agent who died of polonium poisoning in London in 2006. The British government is moving to have a lot of the evidence heard in secret on grounds of national security, but also apparently for fear of annoying the Russians and making it more difficult for British companies to do business in Russia.

That’s the key thought to hold – the fear of of making it more difficult for British companies to do business in Russia.