Throughout the day new reports have been published on the death of Sergey Magnitskiy, the imprisoned Russian lawyer who had worked for William Browder and Hermitage Capital Management.  Some interesting quotes have come up so far, like this one:"He was a key witness and his evidence was very important," said Irina Dudukina, spokeswoman for the prosecutors' investigative committee. "The tragic news about his death came as an absolute surprise. He had complained about the conditions of his detention but never about his health," she said.Well that's just an outright lie.  Read the submission he made here, which details the repeated written and oral requests for treatment relating to his stomach illness, and the cruel and reprehensible refusal by the prison officials to provide basic care.Then, there is also this devastating critique of the president's failure to act on this ...

The following is a press release being sent around by Hermitage Capital Management with regard to the death last night of Sergei Magnitsky.  The link to the 40-page complaint by Magnitsky to Chief Prosecutor Yuri Chaika detailing the urgent care he required for his medical conditional is very damning.

Death of Hermitage Lawyer in Russian Prison

17 November 2009 - Last night Sergey Magnitskiy, a 37-year old legal adviser and father of two, died in Matrosskaya Tishina pre-trial detention center in Moscow.

Since 2007, Sergey Magnitskiy was defending the Hermitage Fund and HSBC against serious frauds perpetrated with the involvement of Russian officials. Sergey Magnitskiy gave formal testimonies naming officers of the Interior Ministry and their

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This is horrible, horrible news, especially considering the circumstances behind the arrest of Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer involved in the William Browder and Hermitage Capital affair (this saga of state corruption is best told in a ten minute film released by the defense).  We already knew the lengths to which Russian prosecutors can go in forcing prisoners to manufacture false testimony, but this terrible death is beyond outrageous.  Let's be clear that the circumstances of the death are currently unclear, but for a man who should never have been in prison in the first place, this incident requires a very serious and strong response.Read the Vedomosti coverage here.  This is from Greg White in the Wall ...

We have just received a copy of an open letter from Amnesty International Canada to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper in advance of his upcoming trip to the forthcoming APEC meeting in Singapore, followed by a visit to India. The letter urges Prime Minister Harper to uphold Canada's well-known reputation as a staunch human rights supporter by raising concerns with and presenting recommendations to Singapore authorities regarding the case of Dr. Chee Soon Juan and other civil society representatives and to address ongoing human rights challenges in India. Below is an excerpt from the letter, followed by a link that will allow you access to the letter in full.

Singapore has two realities: its appearance as a progressive country with regular elections and economic success; and its record of human rights violations designed

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TODAY: Markelov murder suspect reportedly confesses; vengeance a possible motive?  Activist abducted in Moscow.  Spy chief issues warning on Georgia; Lavrov surprised at Poland soliciting US help.  Medvedev reserves army use for emergencies. Luzhkov lays into Abramovich; new vodka pricing; toy story. The Moscow Times reports that revenge may be the motive behind the shooting of human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov.  Apparently the alleged gunman Nikita Tikhonov may have been a suspect in the stabbing of anti-fascist activist Alexander Ryukhin in 2006, whose mother Markelov was a lawyer for.  The other suspect, Eugenia Khasis, 24, appears to have no prior convictions.  Apparently the killer has confessed - the Other Russia reporting it to be ...

It's been less than a week since valiant Russian human rights groups Memorial won Europe's llustrious human rights award, the Sakharov Prize, but it seems that Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov is determined to pull the plug on any celebrations. Kadyrov won a civil libel suit against the organization's Chairman Oleg Orlov earlier this month, regarding the activist's public affirmation that the Chechen leader was responsible for the murder of fellow Memorial representative Natalya Estemirova in July.  Kadyrov has now opened a criminal libel suit against Orlov, which carries a prison sentence of up to three or four years. This from the AP: The case stems from Orlov's statement in July that Chechen President ...

Kafkaesque. The former Russian oil tycoon, who stood up to Putin, is back before his judges. Here is the story. [The following is a translation of an article published in the French publication Le Point.]

Le Point, October 15, 2009

Accused Khodorkovsky, Stand Up!

From our special envoy Marc Nexon

He stands up, opens his spiral notebook and pulls out 3 sheets of paper he has scribbled with his fine handwriting. He pats the microphone installed in his glass cage. "Can you hear me?" he asks, addressing the judge. Then he starts with a clear voice: "I know that in his eyes I embody absolute evil, but I would like to ask quietly a few questions to the witness of the prosecution..."

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Not long ago, I published an article on this blog about Timur Idalov, a Chechen law student who had the bad luck to get into a car accident with the wrong person, and now sits in jail despite the overwhelming clarity of his innocence.

Если Вы хотите прочитать оригинал данной статьи на русском языке, нажмите сюда.

Recently I came across a letter from his wife in my mailbox, which tells of the gruesome beatings and violence Timur has suffered and continues to suffer at the hands of the state. She writes:

"In relation to Timur they are committing true lawlessness and iniquity.

The fact is that they have beaten him up and thrown him in the dungeon. And they

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I just wanted to drop a quick note here to all of my regular readers.  You may have noticed that postings have been very light over the past number of weeks, and even yesterday we only had the news blasts going.  Please accept my apologies for this, as sometimes it is necessary that I dedicate my time (as well as that of my team) to urgent client work and meeting some ambitious deadlines.  As my partner Dean Peroff often tells me, "Bobby, don't forget that you're a lawyer before a blogger," and, well, he does have a point.This does not mean that there haven't been very interesting events developing in Russia and the world worthy of commentary and analysis.  I look forward to digging in with renewed vigor over the next month, and strongly increasing our average number of posts ...

The following is an exclusive translation of an article about the second trial of Mikhail Khodorkovsky published in the German newspaper Die Tageszeitung:New Version of a Russian Judicial FarcePOLITICAL PROCESS The imprisoned ex-oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his partner Platon Lebedev are in court a second time, this time for oil theft. Observer: Many laws have been violatedBy KLAUS-HELGE DONATHMOSCOW taz | The walls are falling apart, the furniture is disgusting. The Kamovnichesky Court in the center of Moscow is a place of particular misery. The years since the oil boom have passed over the justice system without a trace. It is as though the state wished to show how little it cares for those who pronounce ...