By Alexandra Sandacz
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

MOSCOW, Russia – On Monday, a Russian court postponed the posthumous trial of a dead lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, who accused law-enforcement authorities of massive corruption.

In 2008, Magnitsky was jailed for tax evasion. However, the charges arose after he claimed several officials and organized criminals conspired to claim $230 million in tax rebates. Suspiciously, while awaiting trial, Magnitsky died in prison of untreated pancreatitis. The Russian presidential council on human rights said that Magnitsky was deliberately denied medical treatment and most likely beaten.

While Magnitsky’s trial is the first posthumous prosecution in Russian legal history, the judge in the Tverskoi district court quickly adjourned the trial until March 22 to give the court-appointed defense team additional time to prepare evidence.

Magnitsky’s family and their lawyers refused to attend last week’s pre-trial hearing because they believe the case in simply politically motivated.

Natalya Magnitskaya, his mother, stated, “It’s inhuman to try a dead man. If I take part in this circus, I become an accomplice to this. I won’t take part in the hearings.”

The European Parliament said the prosecution was “a violation of international and national laws and clearly shows the malfunctioning of the Russian criminal justice system”.

As a consequence of Sergei Magnitsky’s death, the United States passed a law, which provides for asset freezes and visa bans on Russian officials who violate human rights. This law was meant to push the European Union to pass a similar law.

William Browder, CEO of the investment firm Hermitage Capital where Magnitsky worked in Moscow, affirmed, “After the passage of the Magnitsky Act in America, our single biggest priority became the passage of the same act in Europe. The American action was extremely significant because it set the precedent, but the European action will be even more material to the Russians because they keep orders of magnitude more property and money in Europe.”

Kristiina Ojuland, a member of the European Parliament from Estonia, said, “Russians consider themselves, really, like a part of Europe – European. And therefore it’s significant that Europe reacts, not only [to] the Magnitsky case, but in broader terms, reacts against this corrupt, black money that is flying into the EU countries.”

She continues to explain that Russian officials frequently engage in vacationing, shopping, and educating their children in EU countries. As a result, they are also more likely to keep money in European banks. Therefore, asset freezes and visa bans in Europe would hit Russian officials considerably harder than similar sanctions in the United States.

In order for EU-wide sanctions to come into effect, all 27 member states would need to agree to them.

For further information, please see:

BBC News – Trial of Dead Russia Lawyer Sergei Magnitsky Delayed – 11 March 2013

RFE/RL – Magnitsky Trial Quickly Adjourned – 11 March 2013

RFE/RL – Push For Magnitsky Sanctions Intensified In Europe – 11 March 2013

The Washington Post – Trial of Dead Russian Whistleblower Sergei Magnitsky Postponed in Moscow – 11 March 2013