RUSSIA/FILE: Investigators, probing an affair that has shaken the confidence of foreign investors, say poor medical care was to blame for the death in jail of the Hermitage lawyer Sergei Magnitsky

Record ID: 725909

  • Title: RUSSIA/FILE: Investigators, probing an affair that has shaken the confidence of foreign investors, say poor medical care was to blame for the death in jail of the Hermitage lawyer Sergei Magnitsky
  • Date: 6th July 2011
  • Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (FILE - 2009) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) RELATIVES, FRIENDS GOING TO MAGNITSKY'S FUNERAL MAGNITSKY'S PHOTOGRAPH AMONG FLOWERS VARIOUS OF BURIAL
  • Embargoed: 21st July 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Russian Federation
  • Country: Russia
  • Topics: Crime,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA1RBQI1HG3FJDN855DF0Z6A5H3
  • Story Text: The Russian Human Rights Council presented their report on the case of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky to President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday (July 5), a day after Russian investigators said on Monday that poor medical care was to blame for Magnitsky's death in jail.
    Sergei Magnitsky, a 37-year-old lawyer for Hermitage Capital, once Russia's biggest equity fund, died of heart failure in November 2009 after around a year in prison, sparking worldwide outrage.
    Head of the Russian Human Rights Council, Milkhail Fedotov told a meeting with Medvedev in the southern Russian city of Nalchik he agreed with the findings of the Russian government's Investigative Committee in the Magnitsky case.
    "The conclusion which our work groups have come to, have coincided with the conclusions made by some other sources, I mean first of all the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation," Fedotov said.
    The Russian government's Investigative Committee said in a statement on Monday that experts had identified inadequacies in the care received by Magnitsky during his detention, which prevented timely diagnosis of his chronic illness, adding that it plans to bring to justice the perpetrators of these violations.
    The investigation is due to run until Aug. 24.
    Magnitsky's death provoked an outcry among human rights activists, who accused the prison service of denying him medical treatment because of his part in exposing endemic corruption.
    Human rights activist and member of Moscow Helsinki Group, Valery Borshchev, one of the authors of the Russian Human Rights Council report on Magnitsky, told Reuters the lawyer's body had traces of beating. Borshchev said this fact was supported by testimony from the paramedics of the ambulance team, who arrived in the prison in 2009 and also by Magnitsky's relatives, when they identified the body.
    " The lack of medical care - hindering medical care - which was a violation of the right to live, are obvious in this case and the medics should be punished for this, but the decisive thing was the beating of Magnitsky by the prison warders. I don't think that the prison warders wanted to kill him, I don't think it was their intention - I think they were following an order, this is our suggestion - but he died because of his weakened health and acute condition caused by his illness," Borshchev said.
    Magnitsky had earlier testified against Russian interior ministry officials during a tax evasion case against Hermitage. The hedge fund had accused the officials of embezzling $230 million in tax refunds from the state budget.
    Human rights activists say high-ranking corrupt officials were behind a tax evasion case against Hermitage and Magnitsky in an attempt to make him plead guilty and keep silent on corruption in high places.
    "We name the perpetrators, those who carried this out, in our report. These were (workers of) the tax inspectorate, (Olga) Stepanova, and the notorious (Russian Interior Ministry investigators, Pavel) Karpov and (Artyom) Kuznetsov, all this is well known. But further actions, exposing high-rank officials, those big sharks, this is a task for the investigators. Sure, we suspect and even know some names for sure, but it should be proven, and this is a task for the investigators," said Borschev.
    Hermitage founder Bill Browder, who has been campaigning for criminal charges to be brought in connection with Magnitsky's death, said blaming medical services could allow those who arrested the lawyer to walk free.
    Magnitsky's death sent a warning to potential investors in Russia, which trades at a discount to other emerging markets because of risks associated with corporate governance and misuse of funds.
    His case also drew the attention of foreign governments.
    The Dutch parliament has voted to ask its government to impose visa restrictions on Russian officials connected with Magnitsky's death and there have been calls to impose similar sanctions in the United States.
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