European officials believe they can nose into Russia's affairs

The parliament of the Netherlands approved the resolution about the introduction of sanctions against the Russian officials who were involved in the so-called Magnitsky Сase. Resolution is not a decision yet. The decision will have to be taken by the government of the Netherlands. However, it is the presentation of the problem that raises eyebrows.

It just so happens that a country of the European Union offered to introduce sanctions against the Russian citizens, whose guilt has not been determined by any court. At the end of the day, the Russian parliament also decided to envisage administrative and financial sanctions against those foreign officials who were suspected of violating the rights of Russian citizens.

Sergei Magnitsky was a Russian citizen and he died in Russia. It does not mean that his death in jail is normal. However, it means that the investigation of the incident and the trial, if it happens, is supposed to be conducted under Russian laws. Any interference into investigation is nothing but interference into internal affairs of an independent state.

More importantly, the US parliamentarians, who initiated the black list of 60 Russian officials, who were supposedly involved in Magnitsky's death, would have had a moral right to defend him if Russia had not been concerned about his death. This is not the case, though.

Vladimir Markin, an official spokesman for Russia's Investigation Committee, said Monday that official forensic expertise found a connection between the actions of certain officials and the death of the former lawyer of Hermitage Capital, Sergei Magnitsky. According to Markin, Magnitsky died after he had not been provided with timely medical assistance.

Experts found out the deficiencies in the medical assistance, which was provided to Magnitsky during his custody. The deficiencies prevented the timely diagnosis of chronic diseases, which Magnitsky had. As a result, he did not receive the required adequate treatment. In addition, he did not receive the adequate therapy on November 19, 2009 when his health condition worsened considerably, Markin said.

Thus, according to investigation, "the deficiencies in providing medical treatment are in a casual connection with his death." "The officials behind the detected violations are going to be called into criminal account in accordance with applicable criminal procedure legislation," RIA Novosti quoted Vladimir Markin as saying.

The names of the suspected officials have not been exposed. However, it seems that the Investigation Committee will unveil them in the near future - not later than August 24, when the period of investigation expires.

On July 5^th, President Dmitry Medvedev will receive the reports prepared by the work group of the presidential council for human rights. Human rights activists are going to inform the president about their views on Magnitsky's case.

One may not doubt about the fact that Medvedev will treat the information from both the Investigation Committee and the members of the council very attentively. It was the president, who ordered General Prosecutor Yuri Chaika to take the investigation of Magnitsky's case under personal control.

Yuri Chaika said that the case of Sergei Magnitsky combines other criminal cases. "This criminal case was filed by investigative authorities of Russia's Internal Affairs Ministry against Browder, Magnitsky and other officials on counts of tax evasion in the Russian Federation," the Prosecutor General said.

It particularly goes about the embezzlement of 5.4 billion rubles from the budget of the Russian Federation in December 2007 and other gross tax crimes, in which the head of Hermitage Capital Management William Browder, auditor Sergei Magnitsky and Ivan Cherkesov act as suspects. Magnitsky, who masterminded the criminal scheme, as investigators believes, accused officers of the Internal Affairs Ministry and tax authorities of the embezzlement.

One may not doubt about the fact that the Investigation Committee has studied every minute detail in the case of Hermitage Capital. However, it is still unclear how the Dutch parliamentarians can be related to all that.

Dmitry Lukin

Pravda.Ru

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