By Terance Walsh
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe
MOSCOW, Russia — Russian authorities have dropped charges against Larisa Litvinova, one of the doctors originally charged for her role in the torture and death attorney Sergei Magnitsky. The charges are no longer applicable because the statute of limitations expired.
The decision to drop the charges was made last week but was not announced until Monday.
In a document to Magnitsky’s mother Investigator Marina Lomonosova said, “Hereby I order to terminate criminal proceedings in relation to Larisa Litvinova for the crime of causing death inadvertently, as a result of the improper conduct of professional duties due to the expiry of the statute of limitations.”
Authorities did not file charges until twenty months after Magnitsky’s death. During that time officials disclaimed any wrongdoing in the matter. It was not until international pressure mounted that authorities filed charges.
In December 2011 Russia reduced the statute of limitations for several crimes, including the crime for which Litvinova was charged. According to President Dmitry Medvedev the amendements were part of “the humanization of the legal system.”
Litvinova was the doctor in charge at Moscow’s Butyrka maximum security prison while Magnitsky was detained there for almost four months. Under her supervision Magnitsky never received treatment for the gallstones and pancreatitis he developed while detined prior to his trial.
Magnitsky was under Litvinova’s care for over a month leading up to his death and Litvinova never ran ultrasound tests or blood or urine tests, which would have been expected given Magnitsky’s symptoms. Even in spite of twenty letters of complaint pleading for medical care from Magnitsky and his lawyers to the Prosecutor’s Office, the Interior Ministry, the Federal Penetentiary System, and the courts, Magnitsky still never received the care he needed.
In an official statement Investigator Lomonosova said, “The crime committed by the defendant [Litvinova L.A.] is an inadvertent criminal act, for which the maximum sentence does not exceed three years… Currently, the crime committed by Litvinova L.A. is considered by law as a crime of insignificant severity, for which the statute of limitation constitutes two years…L.A. Litvinova expressed her consent to the termination of prosecution on that ground.”
In charging Litvinova only with “shortcomings in the provision of medical care”, Russian officials refuse to admit that Magnitsky was tortured. If they were to admit that Litvinova’s refusal to administer medical care was torture she would be subject to a ten year statute of limitations.
Hermitage Capital has harshly criticized the decision to drop charges against Litinova, calling it “the latest example of the reluctance within the Russian government to hold anyone accountable.”
Furthemore, Hermitage accused Russian authorities of dishonesty in the handling of the Magnitsky case. “In dropping charges against Ms. Litvinova, the Russian investigators have refused to acknowledge that Sergei Magnitsky had been tortured in custody, a crime that has a 10-year statute of limitations.”
A spokesman for Hermitage commented, “It has become clear today that the whole process of prosecution of the scapegoats in Sergei’s death has been aimed at creating an illusion that at least someone would be punished.”
William Browder, Hermitage’s executive director, expressed his regrets that the doctors were even charged in the case, calling them scapegoats. He further lamented that the Russians could not “even scapegoat the scapegoats.”
Litvinova is one of sixty Russian officials (the “List of 60”) that Magnitsky supporters have asked the international community to sanction for her role in the Magnitsky case. The “List of 60” includes officials from the Interior Ministry, the Prosecutor’s Office, the Federal Penetentiary System, the Federal Security Service, and judges in federal courts. The only remaining member of the “List of 60” who is still facing charges is Doctor Kratov.
Magnitsky’s life ended after a series of events precipitating from his discovery of a tax fraud scheme run by Russian officials through his company, Hermitage Captial. Officials turned the tax fraud accusations against Magnitsky and detained him in a maximum security prison. There he was denied basis living amenities and emergency medical care. He died in custody in November 2009.
Russian officials have acquiesced in the belief that Magnitsky died as a result of negligence by prison officials. They refuse, however, to look further into the motives that seem apparent in light of the circumstances surrounding Magnitsky’s death.
After Magnitsky’s death, President Medvedev swore to oversee the investigation. The investigation is slated to conclude later this month.
For more information please see:
The Sydney Morning Herald — Outrage As Investigators Drop Prison Death Charges — 10 April 2012
BBC — Magnitsky Death: Charges Against Russia Jail Doctor Dropped — 9 April 2012
The Moscow Times — Magnitsky Doctor No Longer Faces Charges — 9 April 2012
Washington Post — Russia Drops Charge Against Doctor At Prison Where Lawyer Who Reported Corruption Died — 9 April 2012
