A Russian court has convicted whistleblower lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, whose death in detention led to one of the biggest Washington-Moscow rows in years.
Judge Igor Alisov of the Moscow court on Thursday read the verdict in the case against Magnitsky and his former boss, US-born British citizen William Browder, the head of the Hermitage Capital investment fund who is being tried in absentia.
Local media reports that this is the first time a Russian or Soviet court as brought about a prosecution against a dead man.
The tax evasion case against Magnitsky, who died in pre-trial detention after accusing interior ministry officials of corruption, has been slammed by legal experts and Western governments.
Magnitsky died in custody in 2009 at the age of 37 after attempting to reveal massive tax fraud against the British Investment Fund Hermitage Capital, to which he was an adviser before, and the Russian state.
He had accused interior ministry officials of organising a $235m tax scam, but was then charged with the very crimes he claimed to have uncovered.
{Sergei Magnitskaya died in custody in 2009 at the age of 37 }
wirestory
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