Posts Tagged ‘posthumous’
Russia shifts ‘from legal nihilism to legal barbarism’
The last 12 years of Vladimir Putin’s rule were a “miracle of God,”the head of the Russian Orthodox Church said today, as Kremlin insiders cited a Washington-based democracy assistance group as a threat to the prime minister’s presidential bid.
But the news that Russian investigators intend to prosecute a dead lawyer, killed in jail after investigating official corruption, suggests only divine intervention will confer credibility on Putin’s promises this week to revive democracy, civil society and rule of law.
“We should make justice available to everyone by introducing administrative proceedings not only for businesses but also to hear disputes between citizens and officials,” Putin writes in The Washington Post today. “Civic organizations will be granted the right to file lawsuits with the aim of defending their members’ interests. We will eliminate the root causes of corruption and punish particular officials.”
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Even death won’t stop prosecution of Russian lawyer
In a move straight out of Kafka, Russian police are taking the unusual step of filing new tax evasion charges against lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who died in their custody two years ago:
The trial of the defendant, Sergei L. Magnitsky, would be the first posthumous prosecution in Russian legal history, according to a statement by the former employer, Hermitage Capital.
The death of Mr. Magnitsky, a lawyer, in November 2009 drew international criticism over Russia’s human rights record, especially after accusations arose that he had been denied proper medical care. The State Department has barred officials linked to Mr. Magnitsky’s prosecutions from entering the United States. Parliaments in nine European countries are considering similar bans.
Police officials reopened the case against Mr. Magnitsky last summer, saying it would provide a chance for relatives and supporters to clear his name.
Relatives, though, said they had not asked for that, and executives at Hermitage said the motive was something else entirely: to vindicate the officials Mr. Magnitsky had accused of corruption.
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Russia Plans to Retry Dead Lawyer in Tax Case
The police in Russia plan to resubmit for trial a tax evasion case in which the primary defendant died in detention more than two years ago, his former employer said Tuesday.
The trial of the defendant, Sergei L. Magnitsky, would be the first posthumous prosecution in Russian legal history, according to a statement by the former employer, Hermitage Capital.
The death of Mr. Magnitsky, a lawyer, in November 2009 drew international criticism over Russia’s human rights record, especially after accusations arose that he had been denied proper medical care. The State Department has barred officials linked to Mr. Magnitsky’s prosecutions from entering the United States. Parliaments in nine European countries are considering similar bans.
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Moscow plans to put dead lawyer on trial
Russian investigators have said they may prosecute a dead lawyer who worked for a foreign investment fund in the latest bizarre twist to a case that has come to exemplify investor fears about Russia’s rule of law.
Investigators said they would proceed with a posthumous trial against Sergei Magnitsky over tax fraud following a judicial precedent set last summer, allowing cases to be concluded in spite of the death of the defendant.
The decision comes two years after Magnitsky, a lawyer for Hermitage Capital, died in a pre-trial detention centre where he was held for almost a year after accusing the police of complicity in a $230m tax fraud.
Although investigators have accused Magnitsky and Hermitage’s chief executive William Browder with tax evasion, a presidential human rights commission found last summer that the charges against the lawyer had been fabricated. The federal prison service has already assumed partial responsibility for Magnitsky’s death, which occurred after he was denied access to urgent medical care.
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