European Commission Calls for Magnitsky’s Torturers to Be Brought to Justice

April 20, 2012

At a midday European Commission briefing today, the spokesman for the European Justice Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom made a strong statement calling upon the Russian Federation to bring to justice the torturers of late whistle-blowing lawyer Sergei Magnitsky and to stop his posthumous prosecution.

Commissioner Malmstrom’s spokesperson said:

“You know the case of Mr Magnitsky, the lawyer who was killed. This is an issue which has been raised by Commissioner Malmstrom on a number of occasions and every time that she has met the Russian authorities and she has called on the Russian authorities to shed full light on this extremely controversial issue.”

“The Commissioner has called on the Russian authorities to find the killers of Mr. Magnitsky who was beaten to death and tortured before that… Nothing has been done to resolve it. It must be resolved in a clear and credible way,” said Commissioner Malmstrom’s spokesperson.

“The Commission considers it extremely surprising that the Russian court recognizes as legal the idea of continuing the case against Mr Magnitsky posthumously. The idea of trying someone who is dead and therefore cannot defend himself or herself raises serious issue in the context of the European Convention on Human Rights,” further said Commissioner Malmstrom’s spokesperson.

Two and a half years after Mr. Magnitsky’s murder in Russian police custody, no one has been prosecuted in Russia. The law enforcement officers in charge of Magnitsky’s arrest on trumped-up charges have been promoted and given state honors. The $230 million Russian government corruption he had uncovered has been covered up. In a further troubling development, the Russian authorities opened the first-in-history posthumous prosecution of Mr Magnitsky, in order to formally exonerate all officials who persecuted him. Amnesty International recently issued a public appeal to the Russian authorities urging them to seize the posthumous prosecution stating it was in breach of international and domestic human rights laws.

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