| By Alexandra Odynova
Eight prison guards severely beat lawyer Sergei Magnitsky
shortly before his 2009 death in pretrial detention, an activist
said Tuesday, providing a new twist to allegations that Magnitsky
had been tortured in prison.
An account of the beating is included in a 40-page report
on Magnitsky's death that the Kremlin's human rights council
presented to President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday, said Valery
Borshchyov, who headed an independent investigation into the
death that formed the basis for the report.
The report also lays blame on prison hospital staff and the
investigators who jailed Magnitsky for his death.
"Having interviewed the prison doctors and staff, we
came to the conclusion that Magnitsky, who was already in
bad condition, was beaten in a separate cell," Borshchyov
said by telephone.
Magnitsky was beaten in the Matrosskaya Tishina prison, where
he was taken for medical treatment for his existing health
problems, he said.
"Even after that he wasn't provided any medical assistance,"
he said.
Magnitsky died shortly afterward, he said.
This is the first time that the beating has been disclosed,
said a spokesman for Hermitage Capital. Magnitsky was a lawyer
for the Firestone Duncan law firm who represented Hermitage
Capital, once the biggest foreign investment fund in Russia.
His supporters have long claimed he was tortured in prison,
including withheld medical treatment, but no one mentioned
the beating.
The Kremlin's human rights council did not mention the beating
to Medvedev during a meeting Tuesday because of a lack of
time, Borshchyov said.
Instead, council member Mara Polyakova, who briefed the president
on the report, said the independent inquiry had determined
that the investigators who had charged Magnitsky should never
have been involved in the case because of a conflict of interest,
Interfax reported.
The investigators had accused Magnitsky of organizing a $230
million tax fraud after Magnitsky accused them of embezzling
the money.
In addition, the investigators had lacked sufficient evidence
to warrant Magnitsky's arrest, Polyakova said during the meeting
in Kabardino-Balkaria's capital, Nalchik.
The council's report does not make a final conclusion on Magnitsky's
death because its members are waiting for the Investigation
Committee to wrap up its own investigation, said council member
Lyudmila Alexeyeva, head of the Moscow Helsinki Group.
"We are continuing to work on the case," said Mikhail
Fedotov, the council's chairman and secretary of the Union
of Journalists, according to a Kremlin transcript of the Nalchik
meeting.
Medvedev said the results of the council's inquiry would be
passed to the Investigative Committee, which is working on
a separate investigation. The council's report is to be published
on its web site by Wednesday.
The Investigative Committee said Monday that it has identified
those responsible for Magnitsky's death but will release their
names later. It didn't specify on the date.
Fedotov said some of the council's findings echoed a recent
statement by the Investigative Committee that a lack of medical
help had directly contributed to Magnitsky's death.
Magnitsky accused Interior Ministry and tax officials of cheating
the government out of $230 million in value-added tax refunds.
His supporters say his arrest was retaliation by the officials.
Amid an international outcry, Medvedev ordered an investigation
into the November 2009 death of Magnitsky, 37. No one has
been arrested in connection with the death, and several investigators
have been promoted and decorated with service awards.
On Monday, the Dutch legislature called on The Hague to slap
sanctions on Russian officials implicated in the case.
The Russian Foreign Ministry reacted Tuesday, calling the
Dutch lawmakers' decision "unacceptable pressure"
on Russia's judicial system and "an intrusion into the
country's internal affairs."
Meanwhile, the Kremlin's human rights council promised on
Tuesday to present this fall a report on another case that
has tarnished Russia's image the double conviction of former
Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who is serving a 13-year sentence
on tax and fraud charges.
The independent inquiries into both the Magnitsky and Khodorkovsky
cases were ordered by Medvedev.
See also:
The
original publication at the Moscow Times web-site (published
with a kind permission of the MT)
Valery Borschyov: Sergei
Magnitsky died because he was severely beaten. Press Release,
July 5, 2011
Human
Rights
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