Witness in Trial of Magnitsky’s Jail Doctor Receives Death Threats Before Court Testimony

November 12, 2012

Olga Grigorieva, formerly the second most senior official in the department of the Moscow Prison Service in charge of medical care, received death threats against her mother and son several weeks before her testimony in Moscow court on the circumstances of Sergei Magnitsky’s death.

In the statement she made to the Tverskoi District Court in Moscow last Thursday, Ms. Grigorieva testified that a former senior medical official at Butyrka prison called her on the phone two days after she received a court summons, to say that she should fear for her son and mother and that Dmirtry Kratov, the only defendant in the case, might be killed. She was warned “not to talk”.

Ms. Grigorieva stated that she was no longer employed by the Moscow Prison Service and that she felt that she could reveal these matters. She further stated that she did not trust the law enforcement bodies to report these threats.

According to a statement by Ms. Grigorieva in court, the death threats came from Mikhail Tremasov, a former senior medical official at the Butyrka prison.

“There were warnings, threats came via phone: Take notice, do not talk,” said Ms. Grigorieva in court.

“There is an order on this case. Everything is already known. You will be testifying and singing praise about Dmitry Borisovich [Kratov]. Everything has already been decided. The guilty has been found. That’s it,” Mr. Tremasov told her, according to her testimony.

Ms. Grigorieva said that Mr. Tremasov explained that he learned that she had been summoned to testify during his visit to the Prison Service, and said to her:

“Do not talk. They have a whole diaspora there. Everything is ordered there. Do not travel by car. Be afraid for your son. Be afraid for your mother.”

Ms. Grigorieva explained that she received a call from Mr. Tremasov on 18 October 2012, two days after she received a call from the court summoning her for questioning, and that Mr. Tremasov further said:

“Kratov will be killed in the detention center.”

Ms. Grigorieva commented that it “could be a ramble” but she was concerned by it.

Nikolai Gorokhov, the lawyer for Magnitsky’s mother, asked Ms. Grigorieva for details of threats to Mr. Kratov. Judge Tatiana Neverova didn’t allow the question to proceed on the ground that it was irrelevant to the case. The lawyer for Mrs. Magnitskaya formally objected and stated the court was obstructing justice by refusing to hear the details of threats to the participants in the hearing.

Under the Russian law (Article 11 of the Criminal Procedure Code), the courts can provide measures of security to the witnesses in case of sufficient evidence of threats to their lives.

Ms. Grigorieva who testified about the warnings and threats was the second most senior person in the Moscow prison system in charge of medical care during Magnitsky’s detention. She was present in Burtyka Prison on the day of Magnitsky’s death. She also was present at the Moscow coroner’s office on the same day that Magnitsky’s autopsy took place.

Dmitry Kratov, former deputy head of Butyrka prison, is the only defendant in the case into the death of Mr. Magnitsky. In spite of repeated requests from Magnitsky’s family to open an investigation into officials of the Russian Interior Ministry, Prosecutor’s Office and judges in relation to his false arrest, torture and murder, the Russian authorities pursued the allegation only in relation to Mr. Kratov alleging “negligence” in medical care.

Sergei Magnitsky, an outside lawyer for the Hermitage Fund, was arrested and killed in Russian police custody at the age of 37 after he exposed the $230 million theft implicating government officials. For four months prior to his death, he was held at Butyrka detention center where the prescribed treatment for pancreatitis and gallstones and operation were withheld from him.

Sergei Magnitsky was honored posthumously with 2010 Integrity Award by Transparency International, for his fight against official corruption.

Last year, the Russian government launched a posthumous prosecution of Sergei Magnitsky, the first ever in Russian history. Last week they announced plans to send the case against him to trial without delay.

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