RUSSIA/FILE: Moscow court convicts late former investment fund lawyer Sergei Magnitsky of tax evasion in posthumous trial
Record ID:
860927
RUSSIA/FILE: Moscow court convicts late former investment fund lawyer Sergei Magnitsky of tax evasion in posthumous trial
- Title: RUSSIA/FILE: Moscow court convicts late former investment fund lawyer Sergei Magnitsky of tax evasion in posthumous trial
- Date: 11th July 2013
- Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (JULY 11, 2013) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF TVERSKOI COURTHOUSE PEOPLE ENTERING COURTHOUSE COURTHOUSE PLAQUE GUARDS IN COURTROOM EMPTY DEFENDANT'S CAGE VARIOUS OF JOURNALISTS RUSSIAN COAT OF ARMS VARIOUS OF JUDGE IGOR ALISOV WALKING INTO COURT AND READING VERDICT VARIOUS OF GUARDS AND PROSECUTORS VARIOUS OF ALISOV READING VARIOUS OF DEFENCE ATTORNEY EMPTY CAGE
- Embargoed: 26th July 2013 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Russian Federation
- City:
- Country: Russia
- Topics: Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA5N22LXT5SECWW70N16T5QGS20
- Aspect Ratio:
- Story Text: A Russian court on Thursday (July 11) found lawyer Sergei Magnitsky guilty of tax evasion more than three years after he died in jail.
The court also convicted Magnitsky's former client William Browder, a Briton who has spearheaded an international campaign to expose corruption and punish Russian officials he blames for Magnitsky's death in detention while awaiting trial in 2009.
The 37-year-old Magnitsky was jailed after accusing police and tax officials of multimillion-dollar tax fraud. He was then charged with tax evasion and fraud - similar to the crimes he uncovered.
Judge Igor Alisov announced the verdict to a courtroom packed with journalists and observers at Moscow's Tverskoi Court, where the only empty seats were inside the cage reserved for defendants.
Magnitsky's family has refused to cooperate in the case or attend court proceedings, and Browder was tried in absentia.
Magnitsky's trial is the first time a dead man has been tried in Russia, and human rights groups have said the case is politically motivated and absurd.
The Kremlin's own human rights council has said there was evidence suggesting Magnitsky was beaten to death, but Russian President Vladimir Putin has dismissed allegations of torture or foul play and told the nation last year that he died of heart failure.
Nobody has been held criminally responsible for Magnitsky's death, which underscored the dangers faced by Russians who challenge the authorities and deepened U.S. and European concern over human rights and the rule of law in Russia.
Russian authorities closed the case against Magnitsky after his death but reopened it in 2011, a move former colleagues say was illegal because they did not have the consent of his relatives.
Browder has dismissed the trial as a politically motivated effort to discredit him and Magnitsky, and to punish him for lobbying for U.S. legislation barring Russians believed to be involved in grave human rights abuses from the country.
"This show trial confirms that Vladimir Putin is ready to sacrifice his international credibility to protect corrupt officials who murdered an innocent lawyer and stole $230 million from the Russian state," Hermitage Capital said in a statement. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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