EU: Magnitsky verdict is ‘disturbing’ sign of Putin’s Russia

A Russian court convicted on the 11 July 2013 the late lawyer Sergei Magnitsky of tax evasion in an unprecedented posthumous trial. His death in prison four years earlier prompted widespread criticism from human rights activists.

The European External Action Service (EEAS) said that Russia's posthumous conviction of Mr Magnitsky was a 'disturbing' sign of lack of rule of law.

On the 10 February 2014, two members of the Russian punk band "Pussy Riot" criticised President Vladimir Putin's amnesty law and said prison conditions were still as inhumane as they were for Sergei Magnitsky, the Russian whistleblower who died in jail in 2009.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: Council of Europe moots Magnitsky 'smart sanctions' http://www.europeansources.info/record/council-of-europe-moots-magnitsky-smart-sanctions/

BBC News, 11.07.13: Russia finds Magnitsky posthumously guilty of fraud http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23265423

Deutsche Welle, 11.07.13: Russia posthumously convicts lawyer Magnitsky of tax evasion http://dw.de/p/1966r

EUObserver, 10.02.14: Pussy Riot: Magnitsky 'not an isolated case' in Putin's jails http://euobserver.com/foreign/123073

ESO: Background information: Statement by the spokesperson of EU High Representative Catherine Ashton on the case of Sergey Magnitsky http://www.europeansources.info/record/press-release-statement-by-the-spokesperson-of-eu-high-representative-catherine-ashton-on-the-case-of-sergey-magnitsky/

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