Sergei Leonidovich Magnitsky (Russian: ??????????????????????? ; April 8, 1972 - November 16, 2009) is a Russian tax accountant specializing in anti-corruption activities. His arrest in 2008 and subsequent deaths after eleven months in police custody sparked international media attention and sparked an official and unofficial investigation into allegations of fraud, theft and human rights abuses in Russia.
Magnitsky alleged there had been a large-scale theft from a Russian state, approved and executed by Russian officials. He was arrested and eventually died in prison seven days before the expiry of one year in which he could be held lawfully without trial. In total, Magnitsky served 358 days in Butyrka prison in Moscow. He developed gallstones, pancreatitis, and blocked gallbladder, and received inadequate medical care. A human rights council established by the Kremlin found that he had been physically attacked shortly before his death. The case has become international cause cà © lÃÆ'¨bre .
The US Congress and President Obama passed the Magnitsky Act by the end of 2012, banning Russian officials believed to be involved in the death of lawyers entering the United States or using its banking system. In response, Russia condemned the Act, slandering Magnitsky for guilty of crime, and blocked hundreds of adoptions by Americans.
In early January 2013, Financial Times wrote that "the Magnitsky case is terrible, well documented and sums up the dark side of Putinism". This supports the idea of ​​EU countries imposing similar sanctions against the Russian officials involved.
In 2012, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, an investigation center based in Sarajevo, managed to trace some of the lost Russian funds to a company owned by Denis Katsyv, son of Pyotr Katsyv. The money has been invested in a real estate company that bought Wall Street luxury apartments in New York City. The US Justice Department filed foreclosure orders to restore the apartment in September 2013.
In 2013, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), a Washington-based nonprofit news organization, D.C., obtained company records and trust made by two offshore companies. This includes information about at least 23 companies linked to alleged tax fraud $ 230 million in Russia, a case under investigation by Sergei Magnitsky. The ICIJ investigation also revealed that the husband of one of the Russian tax officials deposited millions of money in a Swiss bank account set up by one of the foreign companies.
Video Sergei Magnitsky
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Magnitsky is an auditor at the Moscow firm Firestone Duncan, working for its owner, Jamison Firestone. He represents investment adviser Hermitage Capital Management, which has been accused of tax evasion and tax fraud by Russia's Interior Ministry.
During his years of operations, Hermitage has several times given press information related to corporate and governmental mistakes and corruption in Russian state-owned companies. Hermitage founder, American Bill Browder, was expelled from Russia in 2005 as a national threat. Browder said that he represented the threat only "for corrupt politicians and bureaucrats" in Russia, and believed that the firings were done to let his company open for exploitation. In November 2005, Browder arrived in Moscow to be informed that his visa had been canceled. He was deported the next day and had never seen his home in Moscow.
On 4 June 2007, the Hermitage office in Moscow was raided by about 20 Interior Ministry officials. Firestone Duncan's office was also raided. Officers have a search warrant stating that Kamaya, a company administered by Hermitage, has paid taxes. This is very irregular, because the Russian tax authorities have just confirmed in writing that this company has paid taxes too high. In both cases, search warrants permit the seizure of any related material only with Kamaya. In both cases, however, officers illegally seized all company documents, taxes and seals for any company that has paid a large amount of Russian taxes, including documents and seals for many Russian Hermitage companies. In October 2007, Browder received word that one of the companies maintained in Moscow had an appraisal against him on suspicion of unpaid debts of hundreds of millions of dollars. According to Browder, this is the first hearing of this court case and he does not know the lawyers representing his company in court. Magnitsky was assigned to investigate the case.
Maps Sergei Magnitsky
Exposing a scandal
In his investigation, Magnitsky's auditors became convinced that the police had provided material taken during police raids against organized criminals, who used them to take over three Russian Hermitage companies and fraudulently took back $ 230 million (Â £ 140m) in taxes previously paid by the Hermitage. He also claimed the police had accused Hermitage of tax evasion solely to justify police raids, so that they could retrieve the materials needed to hijack Hermitage companies and influence tax refund scams. Magnitsky's testimony involved police, judges, tax officials, bankers, and the Russian mafia. Regardless of his initial dismissal of his claim, Magnitsky's core accusation that the Hermitage did not commit fraud - but has been his victim - was eventually validated. A sawmill claims to be guilty of "fraud with previous collusion", although the foreman will maintain that police are not part of the plan. Prior to that, however, Magnitsky became the subject of an investigation by one of the policemen against whom he testified as being involved in fraud. According to Browder, Magnitsky is a '' people who like to go 'in Moscow in court, taxes, fines, has to do with civil law. "
According to a Magnitsky investigation, the documents that had been taken by Russian police in June 2007 were used to shape the change in Hermitage possession. Thieves use fake contracts to claim Hermitage owe $ 1 billion to shell companies. Unbeknownst to Hermitage, the claims were then passed by the judges. In each instance, the lawyer hired by the thieves to represent the Hermitage (without Hermitage's knowledge) plead guilty on behalf of the company and approve the claim, thus obtaining an assessment of the debt that does not exist; all while Hermitage officials are unaware of this trial process.
The new owner, based in Tatarstan, turned out to be Viktor Markelov, a murderer who proved freed two years in his sentence. The company's fake debt is used to make the company appear unprofitable to justify a $ 230 million tax return the company paid when they were under the control of the Hermitage. The refund was issued on Christmas Eve 2007. It was the largest tax break in Russian history.
Hermitage contacted the Russian government with the findings of his investigation. The money, which is not owned by the Hermitage, belongs to the Russians. Instead of opening a case against police and thieves, the Russian authorities opened a criminal case against Magnitsky.
Custody and death
Magnitsky was arrested and imprisoned in Butyrka prison in Moscow in November 2008 after being accused of colluding with the Hermitage. Held for 11 months without trial, she, as reported by The Telegraph , "refused a visit from her family" and "forced into the more and more sordid cells." He developed gallstones, pancreatitis and calculous cholecystitis, for which he was given inadequate medical care during his detention. Surgery was ordered in June, but never done; The head of the Detention Center Ivan P. Prokopenko later said that he "... did not consider Magnitsky sick... Prisoners often try to impersonate the sick, to get better conditions."
On November 16, eight days before he should be released if he was not taken to court, Magnitsky died. The prison officer initially linked his death by "breaking into the abdominal membrane" and then into a heart attack. The reporters learned that Magnitsky complained of a worsening stomachache for five days before his death and that on the 15th, he vomited every three hours, and had a swollen abdomen. On the day of his death, the prison doctor, believing Magnitsky suffered from a chronic illness, sent him by ambulance to and then transferred him to Matrosskaya prison medical unit Tishina, who was equipped to help him. But the surgeon there - who describes Magnitsky as "anxious, trying to hide behind a bag and say people are trying to kill him" - just prescribe painkillers, and leave it to receive psychiatric evaluation. Magnitsky was found dead in his cell more than two hours later.
According to Ludmila Alekseeva, leader of the Moscow Helsinki Group, Magnitsky has died of being beaten and tortured by several Russian Ministry of Interior officials. The official death certificate states "cerebral closed cerebral injury" as the cause of death (other than the conditions mentioned above), and post-mortem examination shows many bruises and cuts in Magnitsky's legs and hands. Another post-mortem from 2011 summarizes the deaths caused by "the traumatic application of dulled hard objects (objects)" as confirmed by "blisters, ecchymes, blood effusions into soft tissues".
Journalist Owen Matthews describes Magnitsky's suffering at the Butyrka prison in Moscow:
According to the heartbreaking diary [Magnitsky] diary, investigators repeatedly tried to persuade him to testify against the Hermitage and to cancel charges against police and tax authorities. When Magnitsky refused, he was transferred to more and more terrible prisons, and eventually denied medical care that could save his life.
Aftermath and official investigation
According to Russian news agency RIA Novosti, Magnitsky's death "caused public anger and sparked discussions about the need to improve prison treatment and reduce the number of inmates waiting for trial in prison."
An independent investigative body, the Moscow Public Monitoring Commission, indicated in December 2009 that "psychological and physical pressure was given to" Magnitsky. One of the Commissioners said that when he first believed his death was due to medical negligence, he had developed "a frightening feeling that it was not an omission, but that, to some extent, was as terrible as saying, a premeditated murder."
The official inquiry was ordered in November 2009 by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. Russian authorities have not completed their own investigation in December 2009, but 20 senior prison officials have been dismissed as a result of the case. In December 2009, in two separate decrees, Medvedev fired Alexander Piskunov, deputy head of the Federal Correctional Institution, and signed a law prohibiting the imprisonment of persons suspected of tax crimes. Magnitsky's death is also believed to be linked to the shooting of Major General Anatoli Mikhalkin, former head of Moscow's Interior Ministry's tax division division. Mikhalkin was among those accused by Magnitsky of taking part in the fraud.
Opalesque TV released a video on February 8, 2010, where Hermitage Capital Management founder Bill Browder revealed details of Sergei Magnitsky's 11-month trial in detention. On June 25, 2010, Echo of Moscow radio station announced that the Russian Interior Ministry, its own Department of Security, began an investigation into Lieutenant Colonel Artyom Kuznetsov, who was accused of improperly imprisoning Magnitsky. The investigation was in response to an appeal by Hermitage Capital Management and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. In February 2011, the investigation, which has not yet identified the suspect, was extended until May.
In November 2010, Magnitsky was awarded posthumous from Transparency International for integrity. Magnitsky, according to the awards committee, "believes in the rule of law and dies out of faith." The films produced to highlight the Magnitsky persecution have been shown to the American Congress and the parliaments of Britain, Canada, Germany, Poland, and Europe.
In July 2011, the Russian Investigation Committee initially admitted that Magnitsky died because the prison authorities restricted medical treatment to him. The Russian authorities also opened a criminal case against two doctors treating him; Dmitri Kratov, chief medical officer at Butyrskaya Prison, and Dr. Larisa Litvinova who administers Magnitsky's treatment towards the end. Dr Kratov was deposed shortly after Magnitsky's death and was accused of unintentional killing for negligence and facing a five-year prison sentence. Dr. Litvinova can receive a sentence of up to three years in prison if proven to cause death through professional negligence. An independent prison watch commission reports that prison physicians are being pressured by investigators to refuse treatment and Dr. Litvinova told the Public Watch Commission that she was trying to get approval for Magnitsky's treatment. However, investigators who investigated the death of Magnitsky freed Oleg F. Silchenko, who oversaw the investigation of Magnitsky, about any mistakes. Allegations of professional negligence against Dr. Litvinova was dropped because of the laws of the problem of restrictions. On December 23, 2012, when the trial was nearing its end, the prosecutor who conducted the trial against Dr. H. Kratov suddenly turned around and demanded release, arguing there was no direct connection between Kratov's actions and Magnitsky's death. On December 28, 2012, the Tverskoy court found Kratov innocent of the negligence that caused Magnitsky's death, thus in accordance with the request of the prosecutor.
In 2012 Pavel Karpov, a former Russian Interior Ministry official accused of Magnitsky and Browder as the main beneficiary of tax fraud, filed a defamation lawsuit in London. He eventually lost and was ordered to pay more than £ 800,000 to Hermitage Capital Management and, in 2016, was also fined for "contempt of court".
In February 2012, Russian police announced their intention to send back allegations of tax evasion against Magnitsky for a second trial. As shown in the media, this is the first posthumous assembly in Russia. William F. Browder, who lives in London, is a joint defendant who is on trial in absentia. On July 11, 2013, a court in Moscow found Magnitsky guilty of tax evasion in a posthumous trial. The court also found an existing Magnitsky client, US-born British investor William Browder, guilty of avoiding a $ 17 million tax.
By 2016 major criminal investigations are resolved in Russia where a number of public officials from taxes, security and customs agencies are involved in large-scale VAT carus fraud schemes, very similar to those used in fraud against Hermitage Capital, and with the same high-ranking officers providing krysha (Russian: ????? , "protection") in both cases. Some low-ranking officers were punished in this case, but no middle or high officers were even indicted, even though the total loss to the budget exceeded 20 billion rubles. Since the deterioration of relations with the European Union after 2014, the officially promoted version in Russia is that Bill Browder's Hermitage Capital is responsible for the tax fraud and that Magnitsky died from a conspiracy involving Alexey Navalny, highlighted in the 2016 "investigation" filmed by Andrei Nekrasov. Both Magnitsky's wife and mother, whose excerpts are manipulated in films, write protest letters that criticize film for bias and manipulation.
On March 21, 2017, the Magnitsky family lawyer, Nikolai Gorokhov fell, or thrown, from the 4th floor of his apartment building in Moscow. Seriously injured, he was taken to the hospital by helicopter.
Increase international reaction
At the end of 2010, international attention to the issue escalated, with the European Parliament calling on 60 officials believed to be related to Magnitsky's death forbidding entry into the EU, and the Canadian Parliament decided to deny visas and freeze Canadian assets from officials suspected of involvement. The EU Parliament also urges members to freeze official assets, while similar measures are being considered in the United States. In October 2010, US Senator John McCain co-sponsored Justice for the Sergei Magnitsky Act, which would prohibit entry to the US to 60 persons mentioned in court documents related to the Magnitsky case. McCain said the law would help "identify those responsible for the death of this Russian patriot, to make their names famous around the world known, and then to hold them accountable for their crimes." This law is considered analogous to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 in the precedent expected to be created. In July 2011, the United States declared that dozens of Russian officials were banned from entering the United States due to their involvement in the death of Magnitsky.
The Russian Foreign Ministry described the Canadian resolution as "an attempt to pressure investigators and interfere in the internal affairs of other countries", while in a November statement the head of the international lower house committee Konstantin Kosachyov criticized the conclusion of the European Parliament, suggesting that sanctions violate the principle of "presumption of innocence" and should waiting for the completion of the Russian court. Bloomberg reported in December that, according to an Interfax story, "identical measures" will be taken by Russia if the EU ban applies. In mid-December, the European Parliament passed a resolution allowing officials to be banned by member states and their assets for confiscation.
In January 2011, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Juan E. MÃÆ' Â © ndez, opened an investigation into the care and death of Magnitsky.
In November 2011, a permanent exhibition entitled "Sergei Magnitsky - a witness to justice and democracy in Russia" opened at the Checkpoint Charlie Museum in Berlin.
In December 2012, the United States passed a law called "Russia and Moldova Jackson-Vanik Repeal and Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012", among others, authorizing the president to sanction those responsible for violations of human rights in Russia.
Similar actions are being considered in the British parliament and the Irish DÃÆ'¡il.
In December 2012, the Russian parliament passed a bill widely considered by the mass media, including Russian media, in retaliation for the Magnitsky Bill. The Russian bill was signed into law by Putin on 28 December 2012, banned, inter alia , Americans from adopting Russian children.
In a meeting of the 2013 World Economic Forum, the problem emerged at the highest level, with Reuters report that before Medvedev gave his opening speech, about 78 percent of respondents voted at an audience filled with hundreds of Western executives and politicians agreeing that Russia is the largest. The problem is weak governance and corporate governance.
On October 1, 2015, Sergei Magnitsky was posthumously awarded 'Honorable Mention' at the Allard Prize for International Integrity awards ceremony. The Magnitsky family attended the ceremony and replied, "Sergei will be very proud and humble with this nomination.He always strives to live his life in the best possible way, with honesty and integrity.the six years after his rapid and heartbreaking death, Sergei's memory remains alive.Giving to the Allard Prize gives her family all the pride and once again confirms that her life is not sacrificed in vain.Our entire family is grateful for its attention, it will give Magnitsky global justice campaign that emerged from our tragedy. "
See also
- Jamison Firestone
- Natalia Veselnitskaya
References
External links
- Stop Untouchable. Justice for the Sergei Magnitsky website
- Investigating the death of Sergei Magnitsky by the Council to the President of Russia (in Russian)
- "Justice is conquered by Moscow's greed and corruption" by Boris Johnson, mayor of London
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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