Stop the Untouchables. Justice for Sergei Magnitsky.

Russia Tries to Prosecute a Dead Whistle-Blower

New York Times

Russia took the unusual step of attempting to put a dead man on trial Monday, when it tried to open posthumous proceedings against Sergei L. Magnitsky, the whistle-blowing lawyer who died three years ago in a Moscow jail cell.

The effort to prosecute Mr. Magnitsky — which was postponed when Mr. Magnitsky’s legal team refused to participate — stoked tensions in a case that has already damaged Russia’s image abroad and strained relations with the United States.

Mr. Magnitsky was 37 when he died in a Russian jail, where he had been held for nearly a year. The authorities said he was detained on tax evasion charges and died of a heart attack. His advocates say that he was jailed for investigating hundreds of millions of dollars possibly taken by the authorities in a fraudulent tax case, and that he was beaten and denied medical care.

Last month, the United States Congress passed a law barring anyone linked to Mr. Magnitsky’s imprisonment or the initial fraud from entering the United States. In retaliation, Russia’s Parliament in December prohibited Americans from adopting Russian orphans.