Kremlin's rights chief calls for probe into death of jailed lawyer

Nov 23, 2009, 15:08 GMT

Moscow - The head of Russia's presidential human rights council has called for a probe into the death in prison of a lawyer involved in a corruption case in which firms with ties to the Kremlin were being investigated, the Interfax news agency reported Monday.

Ella Pamfilova, the chairwoman of the Council on Civil Society Institutions and Human Rights made the request to President Dmitry Medvedev during a meeting of civil society and human rights activists at the Kremlin.

The death of Sergey Magnitsky, 37, from an infection of the pancreas which went untreated in prison, was not only a 'terrible tragedy,' but amounted to murder, Pamfilova said.

The incident carries political implications because Magnitsky worked for the activist investment firm Hermitage Capital, which targeted corruption in several large Russian companies. He was due to testify in a case of massive tax evasion by a company with close Kremlin ties, but died in prison one week ago.

Hermitage Capital founder Bill Bowder was banned from Russia in 2005 and has seen several associates attacked or imprisoned. Bowder, in an interview with the BBC in London on Monday, called Russia a 'criminal state' and said Magnitsky was essentially 'held hostage' for a year without charge.

The Kremlin-critical newspaper Novaya Gazeta meanwhile published a letter written by Magnitsky shortly before his death in which he criticized the conditions in jail. The father of two said doctors in the Moscow remand prison had reacted indifferently to his complaints about pain.

Russian prisons have repeatedly been condemned by the Council of Europe, which monitors human rights in its 47 member countries.