European Parliament Calls for Accountability of Russian Judges and Investigators Involved in the Torture of Anti-Corruption Lawyer Sergei Magnitsky

May 12, 2010

The European Parliament’s Human Rights Subcommittee Calls for Accountability of Russian Judges and Investigators Involved in the Unlawful Arrest and Torture of Anti-Corruption Lawyer

12 May 2010 – At the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights serious concerns have been raised over the persecution of Russian anti-corruption lawyer Sergei Magnitsky and the absence of any investigation into the Russian judges and Interior Ministry officials involved in his unlawful arrest, torture and death in pre-trial detention last year.

Heidi Hautala, member of the European Parliament and Chairwoman of the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights, raised the case of Magnitsky’s persecution at the Subcommittee session that took place this Monday, 10 May 2010. She said: “The unlawful arrest and torture in detention of Sergei Magnitsky, carried out by officers he had implicated in the abuse of office and corruption represents one of the most important human rights cases. State officials and judges responsible for his unlawful arrest, torture and death in custody must be held accountable according to Russian and international norms.”

During the Human Rights Subcommittee session, representatives of the Council of the European Union indicated that the case of Sergei Magnitsky’s unlawful arrest by Russian Interior Ministry officers, and his torture in pre-trial detention, had been raised during the EU-Russia consultations on human rights held on 28 April 2010 in Brussels. During this 11th round of EU-Russia human rights consultations, EU representatives posed five specific questions to the Russian delegation concerning the persecution of Sergei Magnitsky, a 37 year old lawyer and father of two.

In particular, Russian officials were asked to explain why the investigators, Interior Ministry officials and judges, who were responsible for ordering Magnitsky’s arrest, causing his ever-deteriorating detention conditions and denying him medical care – all of which led to his death – have not been prosecuted and brought to justice. Council of the EU representatives asked why Lt. Col. Artem Kuznetsov, one of the Interior Ministry officers against whom Magnitsky had testified for his involvement in corruption, together with his subordinates were allowed to join the investigative team on Magnitsky’s case and take part in his arrest, when this represents a clear conflict of interest. Council of the EU representatives also asked the Russian delegation why following Magnitsky’s death, his family was denied a request for an independent autopsy.

The European Parliament’s Human Rights Subcommittee and representatives of the Council of the EU called into question the fact that specific Russian Interior Ministry officials responsible for the unlawful imprisonment, torture and death of Sergei Magnitsky continue to face no prosecution in Russia for their actions.

This follows several reports and complaints filed earlier by Russian activists and human rights groups. In December 2009, the Moscow Public Oversight Commission, a prison watchdog empowered by law to monitor human rights in detention centres, stated in their official report that Sergei Magnitsky was “subjected to physical and psychological pressure” and kept in “torturous conditions,” with the state breaching its duty to safeguard his life. In April 2010, the Moscow Helsinki Group, an independent Russian human rights organisation, called for the opening of a murder investigation against five officers of the Interior Ministry (Kuznetsov, Silchenko, Droganov, Krechetov and Tolchinsky) for the murder of Sergei Magnitsky perpetrated in order to cover up their involvement in the theft of budget funds that Magnitsky had exposed and testified about.

Sergei Magnitsky openly called himself a “hostage” of those who stole $230 million from the Russian budget and who covered up that crime:

“I have been detained in prison for a year as a hostage in the interests of the persons, whose intention it is to ensure that the criminals actually guilty in the theft of 5.4 billion rubles[$230 million] from the state budget will never be found… Investigator Silchenko does not want to identify the other [other than a convicted sawmill employee] persons, who made this fraud possible. He instead wants the lawyers of the Hermitage Fund, who pursued and continue to pursue attempts for this case to be investigated, be forced to emigrate from their country in which criminal cases were filed against them, or like me be detained in prison. My imprisonment has nothing in common with the legal purposes of criminal proceedings.., but this is a punishment for my merely defending the interests of my client, and finally the interests of the State.” [Excerpt from Sergei Magnitsky’s notes to court, 12 November 2009].

The discussion held at the EU Human Rights Subcommittee is part of an ongoing effort by EU parliamentarians to encourage a full investigation into Magnitsky’s persecution which was carried out last year by Russian Interior Ministry officers Magnitsky had earlier implicated in embezzling $230 million of state budget funds.

In 2008, Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer for the Hermitage Fund, uncovered the theft of $230 million from the Russian state by Russian government officials and organised criminals. Magnitsky testified against a number of government officials, including Interior Ministry Lt. Col. Artem Kuznetsov and Major Pavel Karpov. In retaliation, those same officials arrested, imprisoned and tortured Magnitsky, in an attempt to force him to withdraw his testimony. He refused. Over the course of his detention, Magnitsky was continually transferred from cell to cell, with his conditions becoming worse and worse each time. At the same time, he developed serious pancreatitis and gallstones, but Interior Ministry and prison officials denied him any medical treatment. After nearly 12 months in pre-trial detention, Magnitsky died on the evening of 16 November 2009 in an isolation cell. In his final hours, Magnitsky stated that people were trying to murder him. After his death in pre-trial detention, Magnitsky’s family was denied their request for an independent autopsy and they were given Magnitsky’s body on the strict condition that it only be used for an immediate funeral.

Immediately after Sergei Magnitsky’s death, the Chair of the Russian non-governmental Council for Civil Society Ella Pamfilova called upon President Medvedev to conduct a full investigation. However, the Russian Prosecutor Office’s investigative committee opened a criminal case solely on the grounds of the “negligence” of prison officials. Six months later, no one has been charged.

The European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights deals with issues concerning human rights, the protection of minorities and the promotion of democratic values in third countries. Since 2009, the Subcommittee has been chaired by member of the European Parliament, Heidi Hautala.

See the website of the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/activities/committees/homeCom.do?language=EN&body=DROI

Heidi Hautala, chair of the European Parliament’s Human Rights Subcommittee, is an experienced Green politician and a member of the European Parliament. She believes in furthering human rights, transparency, environmental responsibility and global justice. Heidi Hautala is known as a versatile, active and fearless politician both internationally and in Finland, where she has been a household name for two decades.

See the website of Heidi Hautala: http://www.heidihautala.fi/front-page/?lang=en

For further information:
+ 44 20 7440 1777
info@lawandorderinrussia.org
info@hermitagefund.com
http://twitter.com/KatieFisherTwit

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