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ECHR rules Russia must pay 34,000 euros to two applicants in Magnitsky case

The court has found multiple violations of the European Convention

MOSCOW, August 27. /TASS/. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has found multiple violations of the European Convention in a case concerning Russian tax adviser Sergei Magnitsky and ruled that Russia must pay 34,000 euros to the two applicants in the case, the Court said in a statement on Tuesday.

"In today’s Chamber judgment, the European Court of Human Rights held, unanimously, that there had been a violation of the substantive and procedural limbs of Article 2 (right to life) of the European Convention on Human Rights, and… a violation of Article 6, paragraphs 1 and 2 (right to a fair trial and presumption of innocence) owing to the posthumous proceedings and his [Magnitsky’s] conviction," the statement reads. "The Court held that Russia was to pay the two applicants 34,000 euros jointly in respect of non-pecuniary damage," the document adds.

Magnitsky’s story

On November 24, 2008, Sergei Magnitsky, a 37-year-old executive partner at the Firestone Duncan audit company and an auditor at Hermitage Capiital, was detained on charges of complicity in tax evasion. On November 26, Moscow’s Tverskoi District Court put him in custody. In October 2009, Magnitsky and Hermitage Capital founder William Browder were charged with tax evasion estimated at 522 mln rubles ($7.9 mln). Having spent 11 months at the Butyrka pre-trial detention center, Magnitsky eventually died on November 16, 2009.

The criminal case against Magnitsky was dismissed on November 30, 2009, due to his death.