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Medvedev finds it needed to investigate reasons for Magnitsky’s death in prison

“He was a corporative lawyer and defended the interests of people, who hired him," Russian Prime Minister said
Photo ITAR-TASS
Photo ITAR-TASS

DAVOS, January 23 (Itar-Tass) — Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev finds it needed to investigate the reasons for the death of Sergei Magnitsky in the prison, Medvedev said in an interview with the television channel Bloomberg on Wednesday.

“I regret very much about the death of Sergei Magnitsky, because he died at the prison,” the prime minister said. “He was a corporative lawyer and defended the interests of people, who hired him. He was not a fighter for the truth. I do not know whether the Magnitsky death case will end with a guilty verdict or an acquittal. It is needed to investigate the reasons, why he died in the prison. This is really a very important task for the Russian state authorities,” Medvedev underlined.

All the rest “are politicized allegations of some people in order to justify their own commercial transactions in Russia,” he said, “These people earn billions of dollars, trading the assets in Russia. At the moment, when the fraud was exposed, they took a politicized position,” Medvedev underlined.

“Therefore, the honour of Magnitsky is not a matter of the search for the truth. This is a politicized trial no matter how regretfully this sounds,” the prime minister said, adding that ongoing court procedures are not a trial against the dead man, but meet the efficient criminal law. “The aim is not to convict someone posthumously. This is impossible,” Medvedev said in conclusion. “There is neither a subject of law nor a crime. But it is needed to investigate what happened. Therefore, this is not an accusation. This is a journalist stereotype,” Medvedev underlined.