Special Features
Magnitsky’s Mother Asks Russian Press to Avoid Becoming an Accomplice in the Posthumous Trial of Her Son
Press Release
Hermitage Capital
27 March 2013 – Ahead of another day in the historic posthumous trial of Sergei Magnitsky in Moscow, Magnitsky’s mother has addressed the Russian press asking them to refrain from repeating false accusations that the state is making against her dead son. She called the trial today a “blasphemy” and “desecration of the memory of her son” organised in response to the Magnitsky Law passed in the United States.
“Those who do not understand the purpose of this trial, I want to clarify that the current government needs a court document, a judgment that my son was allegedly guilty of the crimes he was incriminated of while he was still alive. This document is necessary for the authorities to compromise my son, whose name is on the law passed against corrupt Russian officials involved in plundering the Russian budget, and in the reprisal against him for their exposure,” said Ms Magnitskaya.
Ms Magnitskaya emphasized that her son was detained and persecuted in retribution for exposing the large theft of budget money.
“Today you are not forced to repeat the false allegations composed by persons responsible for ensuring that they kept my son for a year as a hostage, trying to get from him testimony they wanted, and to make him withdraw his testimony about the theft of 5.4 billion rubles from the budget of our country, from pockets from all of us,” said Natalia Magnitskaya.
“Representatives of the media who today are repeating false accusations emanating from the court, from the police, investigators, and prosecutors, who tortured my son and had motive to wish his death, will become complicit in the ongoing blasphemy,” said the mother of Sergei Magnitsky.
Ms Magnitskaya said her son had repeatedly stated that the accusations against him would not hold up in a proper open trial and stressed that he vowed to bring those responsible for the falsification of his case materials to justice just three days before his death in custody.
“The last complaint from my son to the court was about the falsification of materials of his case. Sergei said that he would seek to bring to justice those responsible for fabricating case materials. This happened just three days before his death, on November 13, 2009. Now, one can only assume the role this complaint played in his death,” said Ms Magnitskaya.
Ms Magnitskaya said the posthumous trial is “an example of hypocrisy and lawlessness” of the Russian justice system.
Full text of statement from Ms. Magnitskaya follows:
“Due to the continuation in the Tverskoi Court of Moscow of the posthumous trial of my son, Sergei Magnitsky, I appeal to you not to allow yourself to get involved in the shameful campaign of posthumous desecration of his name, not to repeat the false accusations against him, and to demonstrate this way respect to his memory, and to the feelings of family and relatives.
Please bear in mind that this proceeding is an example of hypocrisy and lawlessness of modern [Russian] justice, and, of course, will go down in history as one of its most infamous pages. Those participating in this proceeding and those who are behind it, have scorned the universal notions of morality, flouted the opinion of the family of the deceased, and the opinion of independent legal and human rights organizations.
Those who do not understand the purpose of this trial, I want to clarify that the current government needs a court document, a judgment that my son was allegedly guilty of the crimes he was incriminated of while he was still alive. This document is necessary for the authorities to compromise my son, whose name is on the law passed against corrupt Russian officials involved in plundering the Russian budget, and in the reprisal against him for their exposure
Using this unlawful process, those who organized reprisal against my son, who deprived him of liberty, health and life, now want to take away his good name and discredit him posthumously, using the fact that Serge is dead and cannot answer their charges.
Representatives of the media who today are repeating false accusations emanating from the court, from the police, investigators, and prosecutors, who tortured my son and had motive to wish his death, will become complicit in the ongoing blasphemy.
The court proceeding in the Tverskoi District Court of Moscow is a desecration of the memory of my son, who was given an international award for the fight against corruption. Even while in prison, subjected to unbearable physical and psychological suffering and humiliation, he did not make a deal with his conscience and stayed true to himself and his beliefs about honor, law and justice. In memory of his civil feat there is a permanent exhibition at the Museum of the Berlin Wall in Germany.
Sergey repeatedly stated that the charges against him relied on false accusations of tax crimes based on conclusions of interested experts who would not have been able to justify them in an open trial. All his requests for cross-examination of persons who gave false evidence against him were refused by investigators.
The last complaint from my son to the court was about the falsification of materials of his case. Sergei said that he would seek to bring to justice those responsible for fabricating case materials. This happened just three days before his death, on November 13, 2009. Now, one can only assume the role this complaint played in his death.
Today you are not forced to repeat the false allegations composed by persons responsible for ensuring that they kept my son for a year as a hostage, trying to get from him testimony they wanted, and to make him withdraw his testimony about the theft of 5.4 billion rubles from the budget of our country, from pockets from all of us.
If you want to report the news of this proceeding, do not give place to the formalism and lies in your reports, publish statements and complaints of my son, thankfully, they are available to the public on the website of his friends and colleagues “Stop the Untouchables” (http://russian-untouchables.com/rus/).”
For further information please contact:
Hermitage Capital
Phone: +44 207 440 1777
Email: info@lawandorderinrussia.org
Website: http://lawandorderinrussia.org
Facebook: http://on.fb.me/hvIuVI
Twitter: @KatieFisher__
Livejournal: //hermitagecap.livejournal.com/
War Crimes Prosecution Watch: Vol 7, Issue 26
Vol. 7, Issue 26 — March 25, 2013
INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT
Central African Republic & Uganda
- BembaTrial.org: Bemba’s 15th Witness Continues Testimony in Closed Session
- BembaTrial.org: Witness Questioned About Bemba’s Battalion Deployed in Car
- BembaTrial.org: Bad Weather Disrupts Bemba Hearings
- BembaTrial.org: Bemba’s Soldiers were “Integrated” into Central African Army
- BembaTrial.org: Witness Says Bemba Troops Did Not Commit Crimes
- BembaTrial.org: MLC Troops ‘Were Not Present in Towns Where Crimes Were Committed’
- BembaTrial.org: Prosecutors Challenge Witness on Date Bemba Troops Joined Conflict
- NewVision: ICC Assures Kony Group of Safety
Darfur, Sudan
- Huffington Post: Sudan: Arrest Warrant Against President Turned 9 Years
- Sudan Tribune: Chad Urged to Execute Arrest Warrant Against Sudanese Leader
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Kenya
- AllAfrica.com: ICC Prosecutor Drops Muthaura’s Case
- Standard Digital News: Uhuru Fights Off ICC Charges
- NZweek: Cleared Kenyan ICC Suspect Faults Court’s Investigation Process
- AllAfrica.com: Muthaura Not Entitled to Compensation
- Uhuru Kenyatta Challenges ICC Case: Uhuru Kenyatta Challenges ICC Case
- The Washington Post: Defense Lawyer Says Case International Court Against Kenyan President-Elect Should be Dropped
- Standard Digital News: ICC Witness Against Ruto Steps Down
- Global Post: ICC to Review Case Against Kenya’s President-Elect Uhuru Kenyatta
- Reuters: ICC Prosecutor Says Kenyatta Case Will Go to Trial
Libya
Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)
- Christian Science Monitor: Is Ivory Coast Zeal to Prosecute Former Bad Guys Setting Up War in West Africa?
- All Africa: Trial of Gbagbo Ally Prosecution Asks for Short Adjournment
AFRICA
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
Special Court for Sierra Leone
EUROPE
Court of Bosnia & Herzegovina, War Crimes Chamber
- The Court of Bosnia & Herzegovina: Main Trial Commences in the Case v. Zoran Marinić
- The Court of Bosnia & Herzegovina: Indictment Confirmed in the Case v. Osman Brkan et al.
- The Court of Bosnia & Herzegovina: Custody of Nedžad Hodžić Terminated
- The Court of Bosnia & Herzegovina: Indictment Confirmed in the Case v. Frano Vulić
- The Court of Bosnia & Herzegovina: Main Trial Commences in the Case v. Dragomir Soldat et al.
- The Court of Bosnia & Herzegovina: Second-Instance Verdict in Pustivuk Sent Out
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
- Institute for War and Peace Reporting: “Not Knowing and Not Seeing” at Srebrenica
- Institute for War and Peace Reporting: Serbian Ex-Officials Seek Acquittals for Kosovo Convictions
- Institute for War and Peace Reporting: Do Overturned Convictions Undermine Hague Tribunal?
- Institute for War and Peace Reporting: Stanisic-Zupljanin Verdict Due
- Institute for War and Peace Reporting: Karadzic Witness Pressed on Serb “Tigers”
Domestic Prosecutions In The Former Yugoslavia
- Dalje.com: Serbia Can’t Accept War Crimes Deal With Croatia Because of Law
- Balkan Insight: Croat Fighters ‘Expelled Bosniaks from Villages’
- Balkan Insight: Confusion Over Sex Abuse Claims at Bosnia Camp Trial
- Balkan Insight: Bosnian Croat Indicted for Dretelj Camp Murders
- Balkan Insight: Bosnian Serb Fighters ‘Beat School Captives Bloody’
- Balkan Insight: Bosnian Serb Paramilitaries Accused of Beatings and Theft
- Balkan Insight: Prijedor Mosque Executions Trial Starts in Bosnia
- Balkan Insight: Bosniak Fighter Jailed for Abusing Serb Prisoners
MIDDLE EAST AND ASIA
Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia
- The Phnom Penh Post: Tribunal: Stoppage Splits Staff
- VOA Khmer: Groups Call on Tribunal to Find Salaries for Interpreters
- The Phnom Penh Post: ‘Intimidation’ Thins Striker Ranks
- The Phnom Penh Post: Clerk’s File Block Inappropriate: Judges
- Bangkok Post: Lawyers Back Strike at Cambodia War Crimes Court
- The Phnom Penh Post: Strike is Over…For Now
- NPR: Khmer Rouge Co-Founder Ieng Sary Dies
- The Washington Post: US Says Death of Khmer Rouge Leader Shows Need to Expedite Cambodia Trials
- UPI: Khmer Rouge Tribunal Told to Get to Work
- VOA Khmer: With Death of Ieng Sary, Tribunal Faces Further Jeopardy
- Global Times: Cambodian PM Denies Deterring Proceedings at UN-backed Khmer Rouge Tribunal
- VOA Khmer: In Former Khmer Rouge Stronghold, Ieng Sary Mourned
- VOA Khmer: Wife of Ieng Sary to Travel for His Funeral
- VOA Khmer: UN, Cambodia Seeking Solution to Tribunal Funding Problems
- The Phnom Penh Post: Government, UN Talk ECCC’s Funding Woes
Syria
- The New York Times: A Battle for Syria, One Court at a Time
- The Daily Star Lebanon: U.N. Must Refer Syria War Crimes to ICC: Amnesty International
- Bloomberg: UN to Probe Claims Chemical Weapons were Used in Syria
- Reuters : U.N. Investigators Get Another Year to Probe Syria Abuses
Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal
- Bangladesh News 24: ICT Adjourns Azam Case with Fine
- Bangladesh News 24: Gulam Azam was ‘Lighthouse’ for War Crimes
- The Express Tribune: JI Protester Killed in New Bangladesh War Crimes Clashes
- The Economist: Justice in Bangladesh: Another Kind of Crime
NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA
United States
- Associated Press: Ayotte Says Bin Laden Spokesman Should Go to Guantanamo Bay, Not Be Tried in US
- CNN: Drones Killing Innocent Pakistanis, U.N. Official Says
- Bloomberg: Durbin Nudges White House on Drones
- Reuters: Guantanamo Hunger Strike Stems From Frustration: U.S. General
South & Central America
Chile
Colombia
- Colombia Reports: Former Congressman Convicted for Notorious Paramilitary Massacre
- Colombia Reports: Former Colombian Paramilitary Leader Sentenced to 20 Years
- Colombia Reports: 6 Police Officers Arrested for 1996 Massacre
TOPICS
Terrorism
- BBC: Dart, Alom and Mahmood Plead Guilty to Terror Charges
- UPI.com: End Near for Trial of 275 Terror Suspects
- The Washington Post: Malaysia Charges 8 Filipinos with Terrorism Offenses Over Deadly Armed Siege in Borneo
- BBC: Omagh Bomb: Colm Murphy and Seamus Daly Found Liable at Retrial
Piracy
Universal Jurisdiction
Gender-Based Violence
REPORTS
NGO Reports
- Amnesty International : Syria: Summary Killings and Other Abuses by Armed Opposition Groups
- Amnesty International : Syria: Government Bombs Rains on Civilians
- Amnesty International : USA: ‘Judge Us by Our Actions’: A Reflection on Accountability for U.S. Detainee Abuses 10 Years After the Invasion of Iraq
- Human Rights Watch: Libya: Stop Revenge Crimes Against Displaced Persons
TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSIONS
Canada
Nepal
- Ekantipur: TRC Ordinance: Blanket Amnesty Provision Will Go, Say Party Leaders
- The Himalayan Times: Conflict Victims Decry Ordinance on TRC
- Republica: TRC Ordinance Does Not Meet International Obligations: Diplomatic Community
South Africa
COMMENTARY AND PERSPECTIVES
- Justice in Conflict: Praise for Fatou Bensouda, in the Wake of Kenyatta and Muthaura
- Justice in Conflict: Canada Threatens to Undermine the ICC?
- EJIL: Talk!: Some Observations on the Turkel Report and the Investigation of Wrongdoing by the Armed Forces
- Opinio Juris: Yep, Libya Is Stalling Concerning the Documents It Seized from the OPCD
- Communis Hostis Omnium: Broadcast of Mekong Pirate’s Execution May Have Violated Chinese Law
- The New York Times: International Justice and Diplomacy
- Justice in Conflict: Barrier to Justice: Could Rwanda Prevent Ntaganda from Reaching The Hague?
WORTH READING
- Northwestern University School of Law, Law and Economics Research Paper Series No. 13-10: Jurisdiction over Israeli Settlement Activity in the International Criminal Court
- Southern Illinois University Law Journal, Forthcoming : Applying International Fair Trial Standards to the Military Commissions of Guantanamo
- Law and War, Sarat, Douglas, Umphrey eds., Stanford University Press, 2013: The Individualization of War: From Collectivism to Individualism in the Regulation of Armed Conflicts
- Social & Legal Studies, Forthcoming : Knowing Women: Translating Patriarchy in International Criminal Law
- Southern Illinois University Law Review, Forthcoming: The 9/11 Military Commission Motion Hearings: An Ordinary Citizen Looks at Comparative Legitimacy
The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute Calls on Russia to Cease the Posthumous Trial of Sergei Magnitsky
Press Release
Hermitage Capital
22 March 2013 – Ahead of another hearing in the trial of late Sergei Magnitsky in Moscow scheduled for today, the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) has called on Russia to cease the unprecedented posthumous trial of the whistle-blowing lawyer killed in Russian police custody more than three years ago (http://www.ibanet.org/Article/Detail.aspx?ArticleUid=7aeb5b74-e3a7-4164-b959-cdd0b648854a).
“The IBAHRI urges the Russian authorities to cease the posthumous criminal proceedings against Mr Magnitsky and to initiate a full and independent review of his treatment and death in prison,” said the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute.
The IBAHRI has challenged the posthumous trial as unlawful and breaching both domestic and international covenants. The organization said that the way the Russian authorities have opened the case against Mr Magnitsky posthumously is not consistent with the Russian Constitutional Court ruling, which did not give law enforcement agencies powers to prosecute people after their death.
“The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation decision of 14 July 2011 (http://www.ksrf.ru/en/Decision/Judgments/Documents/2011%20July%2014%2016-P.pdf) does not give law enforcement agencies a basis to pursue or revive charges against a deceased person,” said IBAHRI in their statement.
The posthumous trial also breaches fundamental principles of law and human rights, said IBAHRI referring to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
“The rights to choose counsel, prepare a defence case, and be present at one’s trial are enshrined in Article 14(3) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The rights to defence and to a fair trial cannot be exercised by a deceased accused person,” said IBA’s Human Rights Institute.
“The IBA’s Human Rights Institute, along with other human rights organizations, come to the same conclusion that it can’t be right and there is no lawful basis to put a dead man on trial. The posthumous proceedings is the new definition of Russia’s “legal nihilism,” said a Hermitage Capital spokesperson.
One of the leading international organizations promoting human rights and rule of law, IBAHRI has also called for a full review of Mr Magnitsky’s treatment and death in prison noting that his own appeals to justice while he was alive had “no apparent effect.”
“Russian courts were made aware of the manner in which Magnitsky was investigated, and the conditions of his detention, in great detail by Magnitsky himself while he was still alive, with no apparent effect,” said IBAHRI.
The IBAHRI statement was released just a day before the Russian Investigative Committee announced this week that it had closed the three-year long investigation into the death of Sergei Magnitsky due to “no event of crime” (http://www.sledcom.ru/actual/287357/).
For further information please contact:
Hermitage Capital
Phone: +44 207 440 1777
Email: info@lawandorderinrussia.org
Website: http://lawandorderinrussia.org
Facebook: http://on.fb.me/hvIuVI
Twitter: @KatieFisher__
Livejournal: //hermitagecap.livejournal.com/