Stop the Untouchables. Justice for Sergei Magnitsky.

A dead man’s tale of Russian justice

Financial Times

Russian police have threatened a posthumous prosecution of Sergei Magnitsky, the lawyer who died in custody where he was detained on charges of tax evasion after accusing interior ministry officials, police and others of corruption. His relatives were advised that the prosecution might be dropped if they stopped trying to clear his name and pursue those responsible for his death.

Things had started badly in the Moscow courtroom that morning. A sour mood prevailed in the drab functional chamber. Up on the bench the presiding judge was already showing signs of irritation. He took his duties seriously and the accused was clearly making a mockery of proceedings by being dead.

Judge X was inherently a well-meaning man but he took a dim view of people being dead when they were due in court. He considered whether an exemplary punishment might be warranted as a warning to others not to be dead when they had serious charges to face.

Worse still, the accused was not only dead, he had refused to show up. Bad enough to stand trial while dead; unforgivable to skip the hearing altogether. In the cage that served as a dock, two guards stood on either side of the empty chair in case the accused tried to escape.