Magnitsky’s Mother Appeals to Moscow Bar Association For All Lawyers To Boycott the Posthumous Trial of Her Son

January 15, 2013

Sergei Magnitsky’s mother has appealed to Henry Reznik, the Chairman of the Moscow City Bar, and through him to all members of the Moscow Bar to not participate as ” state appointed counsel” in the posthumous trial of her son. She made her request in a formal application filed with the Moscow Bar Association.
“I regard participation in this unlawful action as cooperation with the violators of the law and human rights, and as aiding in the commission of a crime against my son,” said Natalia Magnitsky.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for January 28, 2013 in the posthumous trial of Sergei Magnitsky at the Tverskoi District Court of Moscow. Judge Igor Alisov will be chairing the trial. Ms Magnitsky and her lawyer will not participate in the trial after having filed more than 25 appeals seeking to stop the trial pointing out that it breaches the constitutional rights of Mr Magnitsky and his family. The Russian authorities have refused all the family’s petitions and threatened to appoint a new lawyer to represent Ms Magnitsky against her will if the family lawyer does not attend the trial.

“Neither I, nor any other relatives of my son intend to participate in this act being orchestrated in the Tverskoi District Court of Moscow… A lawyer who may be asked [by authorities] to appear at the hearing may not be aware of the circumstances of the case and may not realize the unlawfulness of the posthumous prosecution of my son. However, his presence will allow the court to indicate the absence of violations of the right to defence, and thus through his presence the lawyer will serve as an unwitting accomplice to this crime,” Magnitsky’s mother said in her statement.

“With the help of my son, the crimes of persons occupying high positions were exposed, and because of these crimes, they have become enormously rich. These individuals, especially at the present time, are interested to compromise my son. With this purpose, they organized this posthumous prosecution in order to obtain a knowingly unjust judgment and posthumously defame the honest name of my son,” said Natalia Magnitsky.

“Deputy Prosecutor of Russia General Viktor Grin, clearly acting in the interests of persons exposed by my son and for which exposure he had paid with his own life, reversed the decision to discontinue the criminal proceeding against him, cynically exploiting the Constitutional Court ruling… The right to seek the opening of a previously discontinued criminal proceeding belongs exclusively to close relatives. Neither I nor any of the close relatives of my son have asked the law enforcement authorities to resume the proceeding,” said Ms Magnitsky in her appeal to Moscow lawyers.

“That is why I found it necessary to speak directly to you personally in order to warn you, and through you, the lawyers of the Moscow City Bar,” said Natalia Magnitsky to Henry Reznik, Chairman of the Moscow Bar Association.

“My son died in custody as a result of an unlawful criminal prosecution organized against him in retaliation for his role in exposing a group of officials, who for years stole from the budget billions of roubles under the guise of tax refunds … The reopening of a prosecution against my dead son without my consent and without the consent of other close relatives and against their will, is contrary to the aims and the legal meaning of the judgement of the Russian Constitutional Court… It distorts its legal purpose, violates the constitutional rights of my son, and especially in light of recent international events, is politically motivated,” said the mother of Sergei Magnitsky in her written statement addressed to Moscow lawyers.

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