Sergei Magnitsky died in a Moscow jail after complaining for weeks of being denied adequate medical treatment. He leaves behind a widow and two children.
Mr. Bill Browder stated "He never thought that he'd be arrested. He believed there was rule of law in Russia." "He was a brave and innocent man taken hostage by the very officials he implicated in a major crime against the Russian state,"
Mrs.Irina Dudukina, spokeswoman for the investigative unit of the Interior Ministry, said Mr. Magnitsky died Monday evening of "heart failure." She said there was no record of health problems in his criminal file and that he hadn't complained about health problems at a court hearing last week.
Mr. Jamison Firestone, managing partner of Firestone Duncan, the Moscow firm where Mr. Magnitsky worked stated "They held him for 11 months, asking him to fabricate testimony against Hermitage," ,"The more he refused, the worse his conditions became." Russian officials have denied those allegations. , "It is now impossible in Russia to defend a client who is in a politically motivated case or in a [commercial] case where the other side has a lot of money and is willing to play dirty," , "At worst, you will end up in prison, in exile, or dead,"
