Russia convicts dead lawyer of tax evasion after posthumous trial.

[pampango]

Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer who died in prison in suspicious circumstances, was found guilty of tax evasion on Thursday in a posthumous trial that has further damaged President Vladimir Putin's reputation in the West.

Amnesty International called Magnitsky's prosecution - Russia's first posthumous trial - "deeply sinister", saying it "set a dangerous precedent that could open a whole new chapter in Russia's worsening human rights record."

The European Union said the trial sent "a disturbing message to those who fight corruption in Russia". The U.S. State Department said it was "disappointed by the unprecedented posthumous criminal conviction against Sergei Magnitsky."

The Kremlin's own human rights council has said there was evidence suggesting Magnitsky, 37, was beaten to death. Yet Putin has dismissed allegations of torture or foul play and told the nation last year that he died of heart failure.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/11/us-russia-magnitsky-idUSBRE96A09V20130711?

[TheMightyFavog]

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