Stop the Untouchables. Justice for Sergei Magnitsky.

UK court throws out Russian Magnitsky libel case

Reuters

London’s High Court on Monday threw out a libel suit brought against British investment fund manager Bill Browder by a Russian former police officer who denies allegations that he played a part in the death of the lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.

Pavel Karpov, a former Russian Interior Ministry investigator who is on the “Magnitsky list” of people barred from the United States over the lawyer’s death, was suing Browder over four videos and two articles linking Karpov to the case.

Magnitsky, who was acting for Browder and his Hermitage Capital Management at the time, was arrested after accusing Russian officials of a $230-million fraud, and died in prison in suspicious circumstances in 2009.

In Monday’s High Court judgement, Mr Justice Simon said: “I have concluded that these proceedings should be struck out as abuse of the (court) process …”

The judge also found that there was “a degree of artificiality” about Karpov trying to protect his reputation in Britain.