Sergei Magnitsky’s Mother Slams the Russian Authorities Refusal to Investigate the Murder of Her Son on the 5th Anniversary of His Death

November 19, 2014

Sergei Magnitsky’s mother has spoken of the suffering she has been subjected to in her calls to seek justice for her murdered son in Russia.

In an extensive interview to the Open Russia website, Natalia Magnitskaya spoke of her grief of the way that Russian officials have dealt with her complaints.

“All our applications and complaints to all government bodies are being rejected. I can’t read these rejections any more. It is clear that they are simply mocking us. For example, they sent us materials to read, but the copies are so poor it was impossible to read them. My lawyer filed a complaint to the higher-level body, but his complaint was rejected. They said essentially that all is ok, there is no need for you to read them.”

Natalia Magnitskaya also depicted her anguish at the lies officially issued by the Russian General Prosecutor’s Office, which justified the posthumous trial of her son by claiming that the family had asked for it:

“Recently, one of the documents from the General Prosecutor’s Office said that they had initiated the case against Magnitsky on the request from his mother. But we had stated in writing on so many occasions that we do not want the posthumous prosecution. Howcouldthisbe?”

Natalia Magnitskaya described the struggle to seek justice for her son in Russia as “facing a wall,” but said she continues to challenge the rejections nevertheless and seek justice and is not prepared to give up:

“So far everything has been without effect. In spite of this we try to challenge everything, but it gives you the feeling that you are facing a wall…But we should not stop…It is impossible to give in.”

In another report on the Open Russia website in memory of Sergei Magnitsky, Russian journalist and human rights activist Zoya Svetova recalled how she and other members of the Moscow Public Oversight Commission investigated the circumstances of his murder in detention.

“We wrote a report and sent it on 31 December 2009 to the President of Russia, the General Prosecutor’s Office and the Ministry of Justice. In our report, we wrote that we do not trust the testimony of detention officials and are convinced that the right to life of Magnitsky was violated. In other words, the lawyer was murdered.” 

Also on the Open Russia website, Russian playwright Elena Gremina, author of the play, “One Hour Eighteen Minutes,” which depicts the last hours of Sergei Magnitsky’s life, spoke of how working with the Magnitsky story changed her and those who worked on the play with her:

“It was decided, as usually happens with new ideas, to gather documents and materials about Sergei Magnitsky to see if his story had potential for a play. I did not know then that the gathering of materials for this prospective play would change us, would introduce us to new ideas and new people, that it would change a lot in me.”

Materials to Commemorate the 5^th Anniversary of Sergei Magnitsky’s Killing in Custody can be found on Open Russia website.

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