Posthumous trial begins against Russia lawyer
Russia court begins proceedings against deceased whistle-blower who died in jail after an alleged beating.
A Moscow court began proceedings against a Russian attorney whose death in jail three years ago generated international headlines and soured US-Russian relations.
A Russian judge on Friday refused to halt the controversial posthumous trial of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky for tax evasion, days after Russia closed a probe into the circumstances of his prison death.
“The court has the right to examine the case against the dead man, including with the aims of rehabilitating him,” judge Igor Alisov said in Moscow’s Tverskoi district court, the RAPSI legal news agency reported.
Magnitsky, who was jailed in 2008, died in prison the next year of untreated pancreatitis after he testified against police officials, accusing them of stealing $230m in tax rebates.
The Russian presidential council on human rights has said that Magnitsky was repeatedly beaten and deliberately denied medical treatment while in prison.
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“Silence does not imply consent in this case.“ – Magnitsky family’s attorney, referring to their refusal to have anything to do with the investigators |
In response, the US enacted a law last year named after Magnitsky that allows sanctions against Russians considered human rights violators.
Russia retaliated by banning Americans from adopting Russian children.
Lawyers representing Magnitsky‘s family have refused to take part in the proceedings, calling them a mockery of justice.
Since Magnitsky died in custody awaiting trial, he was never convicted of anything. If he is convicted of fraud in this trial, Russian officials will feel more justified in criticising US backing for him.
Clearing their names
Russia’s Constitutional Court ruled in 2011 that posthumous trials are allowed, with the intention of letting relatives clear their loved ones’ names.
In Magnitsky‘s case, however, prosecutors re-filed charges even though family members said they didn’t want another trial, their attorneys said on Friday.
“Silence does not imply consent in this case,” lawyer Nikolai Gerasimov was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying, referring to the Magnitsky family’s refusal to have anything to do with the investigators.
State-appointed lawyers for Magnitsky filed a motion Friday in Moscow to contest the legality of this posthumous trial, asking Russia’s highest court to explain the legal procedures for such trials.
Presiding Judge Igor Alisov turned down the motion.
Russia’s main investigative body, the Investigative Committee, said in a statement that the posthumous trial of Magnitsky was not linked to his claims of police corruption.
Prison doctor Dmitry Kratov, the only person to face trial previously in Magnitsky‘s death, was acquitted in late December.
Another doctor was no charged because of the statute of limitations, investigators said.