Magnitsky’s Mother is Expected to Testify Tomorrow in the Trial of the Prison Doctor Charged With Her Son’s Death

October 1, 2012

Natalia Magnitskaya, the mother of Sergei Magnitsky, is expected to testify against Dmitry Kratov, the doctor at Burtryka Prison who denied her son medical attention at his trial in Moscow tomorrow.

The court hearing will take place at Tverskoi District Court (25а Tsvetnoi Boulevard, Moscow) at 10:30 am, Tuesday October 2nd.

After three years of investigation, the Russian authorities charged Dmitry Kratov, former deputy head of Butyrka detention center responsible for medical care. He is the only official being prosecuted for the death of Mr Magnitsky. Russian authorities charged Kratov with negligence as opposed to torture or homicide. The charges were made ignoring the findings of the Russian President’s Human Rights Council and petitions from Magnitsky’s family showing evidence that Magnitsky was systematically withheld medical care, tortured and ultimately beaten to death in custody in an effort to force him to change his testimonies against corrupt Russian government officials.

In the previous hearing on this case on 13 September 2012, Judge Neverova rejected all petitions filed by Magnitsky’s family seeking to return the case to prosecutors to take into consideration new evidence showing that Kratov was acting in concert with other government officials as part of a conspiracy involving the theft of $230 million from the Russian government. The judge also refused to allow a video recording or live internet broadcasting of the hearing. She refused to move the hearing to a courtroom large enough to allow press and other interested parties to attend the hearing. And finally, she refused petitions to call new witnesses and seek documentary evidence from government organisations.

When Sergei Magnitsky was still alive, the same Judge Neverova also refused his own petitions from custody to stop his rights being violated by the Interior Ministry.

Sergei Magnitsky, an outside lawyer for the Hermitage Fund, was killed in Russian police custody at the age of 37 after he exposed the $230 million theft implicating government officials. He was honoured posthumously with 2010 Integrity Award by Transparency International, for his fight against official corruption.

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