International Legal Alliance Calls upon Russian President to Prosecute Officials Involved in Sergei Magnitsky’s Torture and Murder in Custody

July 23, 2010

Inter­na­tional Legal Alliance Calls upon Russ­ian Pres­i­dent to Pros­e­cute Offi­cials Involved in Sergei Magnitsky’s Tor­ture and Mur­der in Cus­tody; Issues Strong Warn­ing about Deter­rent to Inward Invest­ment and Risk to Safety of Employ­ees in Russia

23 July 2010 —  7,7000 lawyers from 147 law firms from 81 coun­tries have appealed to Russ­ian Pres­i­dent Medvedev, him­self a lawyer, call­ing to bring to jus­tice the tor­tur­ers of 37-year old anti-corruption lawyer Sergei Mag­nit­sky. TAGLaw, a lead­ing inter­na­tional legal alliance, said that the lack of inves­ti­ga­tion by the Russ­ian State of Inte­rior Min­istry offi­cers respon­si­ble for Magnitsky’s false arrest and sys­tem­atic tor­ture and mur­der in cus­tody is becom­ing a deter­rent to inward invest­ment and poses threats for pro­fes­sion­als and busi­nesses in Rus­sia. It has also pledged to mon­i­tor the safety of Magnitsky’s colleagues.

“On behalf of our world­wide organ­i­sa­tion, and with the unan­i­mous sup­port of our inter­na­tional Advi­sory Board, we write to express our shock and out­rage at the role of Russ­ian offi­cials in the death of Sergei Mag­nit­sky and the abject lack of ade­quate inves­ti­ga­tion into and impo­si­tion of sanc­tions against those respon­si­ble for Sergei’s death,” said TAGLaw Pres­i­dent Robert Sat­tin and TAGLaw Chair­man Peter Apple­ton Jones in their let­ter to Pres­i­dent Medvedev dated July 16.

TAGLaw, one of the largest inter­na­tional net­works of law firms, warned that the con­tin­u­ing impunity of com­plicit offi­cials shows “the almost total lack of legal pro­tec­tion and the absence of effec­tive restraints on gov­ern­ment offi­cials, who are free to act to the detri­ment of investors and their Russ­ian investments”.

The let­ter warns that the actions of the Russ­ian State in Magnitsky’s case “will be taken note of by all who con­sider and are being advised about inward invest­ment in Russia.”

TAGLaw has also pledged to remain vig­i­lant in mon­i­tor­ing the safety of Sergei Magnitsky’s col­leagues, includ­ing US lawyer Jami­son Fire­stone, and other Russ­ian staff at Fire­stone Dun­can law firm.

This appeal from the US-based legal alliance to Russ­ian Pres­i­dent comes two weeks after Russ­ian President’s trip to the US where he pro­moted invest­ment to Rus­sia. It also echoes the pub­lic demand by US Sec­re­tary of State Hillary Clin­ton that “jus­tice be deliv­ered” in Magnitsky’s case made dur­ing the Civil Sum­mit in Wash­ing­ton at the end of June.

Messer Sat­tin and Jones from TAGLaw say: “We view this mat­ter to be of suf­fi­cient grav­ity as a mat­ter of law and human rights and of suf­fi­cient con­cern to the world com­mu­nity.” Copies of the TAGLaw let­ter to Pres­i­dent Medvedev have been sent to the United Nations and the US Congress.

This lat­est appeal from one of the lead­ing inter­na­tional legal net­works will have impli­ca­tions for invest­ments to Rus­sia, as the first advice issued to West­ern firms to con­sider the risk to the safety of per­son­nel and the lack of laws to pro­tect from abuse by officials.

Sim­i­lar appeals to Pres­i­dent Medvedev call­ing for the pros­e­cu­tion of offi­cers involved in false arrest and tor­ture of Sergei Mag­nit­sky have been issued ear­lier by the Inter­na­tional Bar Asso­ci­a­tion and the UK Law Soci­ety who have received no response to date.

For more infor­ma­tion, please contact:

TAGLaw
Jen­nifer Allen, Exec­u­tive Direc­tor
Phone: +1 727−895−3720
Web­site: http://www.taglaw.com/
Text of let­ter: http://www.taglaw.com/files/TAGLaw%20Announcements/LetterToMedvedev.pdf

One of the lead­ing legal net­works in the world, TAGLaw® was founded in 1998 and is based in the US. It is a global alliance of 147 law firms from 81 coun­tries. Its 7700 lawyers work out of more than 300 offices all over the world. TAGLaw ranks among the largest legal net­works in the world and com­prises high-quality, inde­pen­dent law firms.

Mate­ri­als about Sergei Magnitsky’s tes­ti­monies against cor­rupt offi­cers, his tor­ture and death in pre­trial detention:

Web­site: http://russian-untouchables.com

Her­mitage Cap­i­tal
(Sergei Mag­nit­sky rep­re­sented com­pa­nies of the Her­mitage Fund in Russia)

Phone: 44 207 440 1777
Email: info@lawandorderinrussia.org
Fire­stone and Dun­can
Jami­son Fire­stone, Man­ag­ing Part­ner (for­mer boss of Sergei Mag­nit­sky)
Phone: +1 347 574 2975
Email: jamisonfirestone@russian-untouchables.com

Comments

• Link