Kremlin rights council hints lawyer case fabricated

Reuters

The Kremlin human rights council appeared to blame authorities on Tuesday for fabricating a case against anti-graft lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who died in jail.

“People whom Magnitsky had long accused of being involved in a crime were somehow included in the investigative groups … This points to a personal interest in their further course of action,” council member Yelena Panfilova told reporters.

The council rejected claims by Russian investigators who blamed medics on Monday for the death in 2009 of the 37-year-old lawyer after nearly a year in Russian jails. He worked for Russia’s biggest equity fund Hermitage Capital and his death spooked foreign investors and sparked a global outcry.

When asked by media if the case against Magnitsky had been fabricated, Panfilova answered this was one of the “major factors” being considered.

Magnitsky’s death provoked an outcry among human rights activists and his family, who accused the prison service of denying him medical treatment because of his part in exposing endemic corruption.

Panfilova, who also heads the Russian branch of corruption watchdog Transparency International, stressed the council’s findings were preliminary.

“Either personal interest of negligence is involved here… it is one or the other,” she said in Nalchik, capital of the mainly Muslim Kabardino-Balkaria region in the volatile North Caucasus, which Russian media cited as Magnitsky’s hometown.

The human rights council said it passed its report to President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday. He said he would hand over its findings to investigators for a review.

Council member and former judge Mara Polyakova said she told Medvedev the investigative team had been “illegally” formed, considering its past dealings with Magnitsky.

“This alone is sufficient reason enough for those people to be withdrawn and not be allowed to participate in the investigation,” she told reporters.

RARE ADMISSION OF GUILT

Magnitsky’s lawyers said he was kept in custody illegally and not given proper medical treatment in prison despite repeated requests.

“An element in the investigation showed that since he was giving certain evidence against law enforcement, it was decided to charge him with at least something,” said Panfilova.

His death also sent a warning to potential investors in Russia which trades at a discount to other emerging markets because of risks associated with corporate governance and misuse of funds.

Since sailing into the Kremlin three years ago as Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s protege, Medvedev has styled himself as a champion of democracy and modernisation, though critics say there has been very little real change. Magnitsky’s case also drew the attention of foreign governments.

The Dutch parliament has voted to ask its government to impose visa restrictions on Russian officials connected with Magnitsky’s death, and there have been calls to impose similar sanctions in the United States. [ID:nN29282238]

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