Trial against dead lawyer Magnitsky is under way

[March 22, 2013]  MOSCOW (AP) -- A Moscow court has begun proceedings in the trial of a Russian lawyer who died in custody more than three years ago.

Sergei Magnitsky was jailed in 2008 on charges of tax evasion. He died in prison the next year of untreated pancreatitis after he testified against police officials, accusing them of stealing $230 million in tax rebates. His death attracted international attention.

Magnitsky's family is boycotting the trial with only state-appointed attorneys defending the dead lawyer.

The attorneys filed a motion Friday, contesting the legality of trying a dead man.

Last year, the United States enacted a law, named after Magnitsky, that allows sanctions against Russians considered human rights violators. Russia retaliated by banning Americans from adopting Russian children.

[Associated Press]

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