Sergey Magnitsky et al v. Russia: News Release & Judgment
News Release & Judgment in Sergey Magnitsky, deceased, an auditor charged with tax evasion regarding USA-born, London-based hedge fund principal Bill Browder; Magnitsky's widow, Nataliya Zharikova, and his mother, Natalia Magnitskiya v. The Government of Russia at the European Court of Human Rights. The Court ordered Russia to pay €34,000 in damages to Magnitsky's wife and mother for Magnitsky's "ill-treatment" in prison. The Court appeared to reject Browder's claim that Magnitsky was detained and killed for blowing the whistle on alleged fraud by Russian officials, determining that "the enquiry into alleged tax evasion which had led to Mr Magnitskiy's arrest had begun long before he had complained of fraud by officials. The decision to arrest him had only been made after investigators had learned that he had previously applied for a UK visa, had booked tickets to Kyiv, and had not been residing at his registered address. Furthermore, the evidence against him, including witness testimony, had been enough to satisfy an objective observer that he might have committed the offence in question. The list of reasons given by the domestic court to justify his subsequent detention had been specific and sufficiently detailed. The Court thus rejected the applicants' complaint about Mr Magnitskiy's arrest and subsequent detention as being manifestly ill-founded."
