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EU considers situation around Magnitsky case as Russia’s home affair - source

The Russia-EU summit is due in Yekaterinburg on June 3-4

Photo EPA/ITAR-TASS

Photo EPA/ITAR-TASS

LONDON, June 1 (Itar-Tass) - At the upcoming Russia-EU summit next week in Yekaterinburg, the European Union is not going to raise questions about the case of Magnitsky, a source at the European Commission said on Saturday.

From our side, the Magnitsky case is not on the agenda, the source said.

During a briefing on Friday, which was devoted to the upcoming summit, a reporter asked about the case of Magnitsky. The answer was that the Commission was disappointed with the legal progress, it was not satisfied with the situation, though all those events were home affairs of the Russian judicial system.

Thus the European Union’s position on the case a week before the summit is that legally the case of Magnitsky is Russia’s home affair.

Sergei Magnitsky, 37, died in the hospital of the Matrosskaya Tishina remand prison on November 111, 2009, 11 months after he was placed under arrest and seven days after being charged. Previously, he had been kept in the Butyrka prison. Investigators said Magnitsky had not been given proper treatment on time as his health had sharply deteriorated. He had been detained under the case on escape from taxes of the Hermitage Capital investment fund.

The Russia-EU summit is due in Yekaterinburg on June 3-4.

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