November 16, 2009 S.L. Magnitsky, the head of the tax and audit department at Firestone Duncan, a firm affiliated with the Hermitage Capital Management Foundation (head of the fund is W. Browder), died of acute pancreatitis in the Sailor's Silence Detention Center, and Magnitsky’s advocates noted a lack of adequate medical care.
Almost ten years later (and taking into account the three-month deadline for appealing the decision, it will be exactly ten years), on August 27, 2019, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled on the complaint of the deceased's widow and mother.
The court did not dispute the validity of Magnitsky’s arrest, but came to the conclusion that the conditions of his imprisonment that ended in death were “a violation of Art. 2 of the Convention (on human rights. - M. S. ) in connection with the authorities' inability to protect Magnitsky’s right to life and to ensure an effective investigation into the circumstances of his death. ” And he awarded a compensation payment of € 34 thousand.
The fact that Magnitsky’s death was not all right and could be, if not saved (there are times when medicine is powerless), then provide sufficient help to say: “We did everything we could,” no one seriously denies this. The very series of resignations that followed after November 16 - 20 top executives of the FSIN and 16 heads of prisons, as well as the head of the department for combating tax crimes of the Moscow Central Internal Affairs Directorate - were indirectly acknowledged by the Russian authorities that there were grounds for claims.
And indeed, the death in prison of a person accused of an important case that could affect many, always gives rise to sense in the spirit of Prince. IN AND. Shuisky: "Yes, at good time, like my uncle, they quietly crushed me in a remote prison." Which is by no means desirable for the authorities. The very recent death in the American prison of the super-elite pimp J. Epstein, who knew too much about the refined inclinations of extremely high-ranking officials, recalls the correspondence of the people who were preparing the assassination attempt on Alexander III: “I worry about my addressee, if he’s a commander, then I can also , and this is undesirable, because there are a lot of very sensible people behind them. ” Here Epstein, thanks to the timely demise, and not dragged. And equally Magnitsky.
Who in the case of Magnitsky belonged to the "very efficient people" is a complex question. Others even point to a very sensible Browder man, for whom Magnitsky’s excessive talkativeness, who developed reliable schemes for the businessman, would be completely undesirable. But the ECHR, according to its statute, does not consider the case on the merits - we will not.
Another thing is that the court delivered its verdict without much enthusiasm.
Although there are cases considered as a matter of priority, this case has not been attributed to them and has been swinging for almost ten years.
Complaints A.A. Bulk in Strasbourg satisfy much faster. By the way, Magnitsky’s law was adopted in the United States in 2012, also not very quickly, but still three years - not ten. All international organizations and notable politicians, such as the then mayor of London, Boris Johnson, who called Magnitsky “a martyr trampled by a corrupt system”, noted themselves in the early 2010s, and the leisurely Strasbourg court ruled only now that Magnitsky was forgotten . The case when it is necessary, of course, but tomorrow, tomorrow, not today.
The assigned amount is also relatively small. A.A. Navalny promised shkolota that everyone who was just detained would receive € 10,000 in Strasbourg, but not detained, but dead. Suppose our wrestler lies - he will take inexpensively, and no one has seen those € 10 thousand, but here are the real amounts awarded by the ECHR.
The detainee on Bolotnaya Square on May 6, 2012 and sentenced to 15 days E. Frumkin, the ECHR appointed € 25 thousand compensation. Three homosexual activists - not even detained, they were only denied registration of thematic movements - were awarded € 42.5 thousand.
Close Magnitsky - € 34 thousand. If there is proportionality, it is very peculiar.
This is more like the “here and get rid of” formula. It seems that the ECHR did not really want to go into this highly controversial matter. Such an unwillingness to contact Browder can even be understood.
The author’s point of view may not coincide with the position of the publisher.