The Russian Interior Ministry has ordered that the investigation into circumstances surrounding the death of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky be overseen by a new investigator, the Ministry said in a statement.
Mikhail Shupolovsky, an Interior Ministry investigator, will take over some work on the case from Boris Kibis, the ministry said in a statement.
Kibis was put on the ‘black list’ of Russian officials and investigators, responsible for Magnitsky’s death, compiled by the late lawyer’s relatives.
Magnitsky, an anti-corruption lawyer who worked with the Hermitage Capital investment fund, was arrested on tax evasion charges in November 2008, just days after accusing police investigators in a $230 million tax refund fraud, and died after almost a year in the Matrosskaya Tishina pre-trial detention center in Moscow.
A probe into his death revealed that the lawyer, who was suffering from untreated pancreatitis and a heart condition, did not receive proper medical treatment. Rights activists pointed to multiple violations of the lawyer’s rights during his arrest and detention, including signs that he was beaten by prison guards hours before his death.
The U.S. State Department issued visa bans on several dozen Russian officials in connection to the Magnitsky case in July 2011. In response, Russia has imposed travel bans on several U.S. officials.
The Magnitsky case joins the Jackson-Vanik amendment and the rift over the Syrian crisis as a major stumbling block in the “reset” of U.S.-Russian relations.
