Dutch Foreign Minister Plans to Call for EU-wide Sanctions Against the Killers of Sergei Magnitsky in the Absence of their Prosecution in Russia

September 22, 2011

The Dutch For­eign Min­is­ter Uri Rosen­thal has called upon Rus­sia to bring to jus­tice the killers of Sergei Mag­nit­sky, 37-year old Russ­ian lawyer for the Her­mitage Fund, once the largest for­eign port­fo­lio investor in Russia.

In a let­ter to the Dutch par­lia­ment pub­lished on 20 Sep­tem­ber 2011 enti­tled “Human Rights in For­eign Pol­i­cy. Imple­men­ta­tion of the Sergei Mag­nit­sky Res­o­lu­tion,” Min­is­ter Rosen­thal said that he intends to raise the pos­si­bil­i­ty of EU-wide sanc­tions in the absence of accept­able out­comes of the Russ­ian offi­cial investigation:

“The Gov­ern­ment has con­cerns fol­low­ing the death of Mr. Mag­nit­sky and feels encour­aged by the motion. I con­sid­er it is impor­tant at bilat­er­al and EU lev­el to main­tain pres­sure on Rus­sia so that those respon­si­ble for the death of Sergei Mag­nit­sky face lia­bil­i­ty… Depend­ing on the out­comes of the Russ­ian judi­cial inves­ti­ga­tion, I intend to raise the pos­si­bil­i­ty of fur­ther action at EU level.” 

Dutch Min­is­ter Rosen­thal has stressed that it is impor­tant to main­tain pres­sure on Rus­sia both through bilat­er­al and EU chan­nels so that those respon­si­ble for the lawyer’s death in police cus­tody are brought to jus­tice. Read more

Sergei Magnitsky’s Mother Summoned for Questioning by the Same Russian Interior Ministry Officers Who Arrested and Tortured Her Son to Death

September 5, 2011

Mrs. Natalia Mag­nit­skaya, moth­er of Sergei Mag­nit­sky, the 37-year old anti-cor­rup­tion lawyer killed in Russ­ian police cus­tody in Novem­ber 2009, has been sum­moned for ques­tion­ing as a “wit­ness” by the same Inte­ri­or Min­istry offi­cers who arrest­ed and tor­tured her son to death. It is being con­duct­ed as part of the same crim­i­nal case against Sergei Mag­nit­sky, which was orig­i­nal­ly used to false­ly arrest him, and has now been re-opened 20 months after his death. The case has been re-opened with­out the Mag­nit­sky family’s con­sent. This lat­est action by Russ­ian law enforce­ment bod­ies is seen as an attempt to put psy­cho­log­i­cal pres­sure on the Mag­nit­sky fam­i­ly, who are seek­ing jus­tice for his death. 

“The ques­tion­ing of Sergei Magnitsky’s moth­er by the same inves­ti­ga­tors who were involved in per­se­cut­ing her son, under the same case that Mag­nit­sky was false­ly arrest­ed and even­tu­al­ly killed, is a cyn­i­cal and cru­el action designed to sup­press his family’s efforts in seek­ing jus­tice. The offi­cers who tor­tured Mag­nit­sky in cus­tody, now, almost two years after his death, are try­ing to pres­sure his rel­a­tives into with­draw­ing their pub­lic call for jus­tice,” said a Her­mitage Cap­i­tal rep­re­sen­ta­tive. Read more

New Poll Results Show that 44% of Russians Support Foreign Sanctions Against Officials in Magnitsky Case

August 31, 2011

Accord­ing to a new pub­lic opin­ion poll pub­lished by the Lev­a­da Cen­ter, 44% of Rus­sians sup­port US and EU sanc­tions against Russ­ian offi­cials in the case of Sergei Mag­nit­sky, a 37-year old lawyer for the Her­mitage Fund who was false­ly arrest­ed and tor­tured to death in police cus­tody after he had exposed a cor­rupt scheme through which in excess of $230 mil­lion had been stolen by Russ­ian gov­ern­ment offi­cials. Only 3% of Rus­sians strong­ly oppose such sanctions.

The results of the new poll show a sub­stan­tial increase in the num­ber of Rus­sians who are aware of the Mag­nit­sky case and those who believe that the denial of med­ical care to him by offi­cials in cus­tody was inten­tion­al. The pre­vi­ous poll by the Lev­a­da Cen­ter was held a year ago, using the same Rus­sia-wide rep­re­sen­ta­tive sam­ple of 1600 respondents.

The com­par­i­son of the two poll results show that the share of those who heard of the Mag­nit­sky case has increased in the last year from 22% tо 42%. The share of those who are well informed about the Mag­nit­sky case has risen from 6% to 15%. Read more

Sergei Magnitsky’s Mother Appeals to the Russian Courts on Medical Cover-Up of her Son’s Death

August 29, 2011

Today the Moscow City Court will hear an appeal from Mrs Natalia Mag­nit­skaya, moth­er of Sergei Mag­nit­sky, the 37-year old anti-cor­rup­tion lawyer tor­tured to death in Russ­ian police custody. 

Mrs Mag­nit­skaya demands access to her son’s tis­sue sam­ples so they can be sub­mit­ted for an inde­pen­dent exam­i­na­tion. Her pre­vi­ous requests have been denied by Inves­ti­ga­tor Mari­na Lomonoso­va of the Russ­ian Inves­tiga­tive Com­mit­tee and Judge Natalia Mush­niko­va of the Tver­skoi Dis­trict Court in Moscow. Inves­ti­ga­tor Lomonoso­va’s rejec­tion stat­ed there was “no rea­son to doubt the find­ings of offi­cial med­ical exam­i­na­tions car­ried out by state bod­ies”. Judge Mush­niko­va agreed, cit­ing no legal ground.

Niko­lai Gorokhov, the lawyer rep­re­sent­ing the Mag­nit­sky fam­i­ly, stat­ed in the law­suit that the family’s pre­vi­ous requests for exam­i­na­tions have all been reject­ed by the Russ­ian pros­e­cu­tors and inves­ti­ga­tors; that the offi­cial autop­sy was car­ried out by an exam­in­er with less than one year of pro­fes­sion­al expe­ri­ence; that no prop­er tox­i­co­log­i­cal tests had been car­ried out; and that the family’s request for an inde­pen­dent autop­sy had been denied. Read more

Sergei Magnitsky’s Mother Reacts to the Russian Interior Ministry’s Plan to Prosecute Her Dead Son

August 5, 2011

Yes­ter­day, the Russ­ian Inte­ri­or Min­istry announced that they plan to pros­e­cute Sergei Mag­nit­sky for alleged tax eva­sion. Sergei Mag­nit­sky has been dead since Novem­ber 16, 2009. He had been arrest­ed and tor­tured to death in police cus­tody after he had accused a num­ber of Inte­ri­or Min­istry offi­cers of per­pe­trat­ing the largest tax fraud in the Russ­ian his­to­ry. He repeat­ed­ly stat­ed from cus­tody that the case against him was fab­ri­cat­ed by the offi­cers he had tes­ti­fied against. No one has been pros­e­cut­ed for his tor­ture and death in the 20 months since his death.

“To put a man on tri­al after he was killed, when he can no longer defend him­self, is an evil and base act. It goes against all human morals, and laws,” said Sergei’s moth­er, Natalia Magnitskaya.

“I demand jus­tice for my son and that every­one who is respon­si­ble for his death are named and pros­e­cut­ed,” added Mrs. Mag­nit­skaya. Read more

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