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From left to right, an assistant of the Russian Prosecutor General Mikhail Alexandrov, the spokesman of the Russian Prosecutor General Alexander Kurennoi and an assistant of the Russian Prosecutor General Nikolai Atmoniev attend a press conference in Moscow (Russia) on Monday 19 November 2018 Russian prosecutors Monday announced new charges against Bill Browder, accusing him of forming a criminal group to divert money into Russia. They also claimed to suspect Magnitsky's death in prison to be intoxication and claimed they had a "theory". Browder is behind the poisoning. (Pavel Golovkin / Associated Press)
MOSCOW – Russian prosecutors on Monday announced a new criminal case against Kremlin critic Bill Browder, putting him under pressure before the EU talks over a set of sanctions that he advocates.
They also revealed a "theory" that he could be behind the death of his employee, Sergei Magnitsky, in a Russian prison.
Magnitsky, a lawyer, died in 2009 after a year in custody after claiming he discovered $ 230 million in tax fraud by Russian officials. A Russian presidential commission concluded that he had been beaten and deprived of medical care. Two prison doctors were charged with negligence resulting in the death of one of them, but one of them was acquitted by a court in 2013 and another was not prosecuted because of a limitation period.
Born in the United States, Browder, who owned a large investment fund in Russia, then launched a campaign to bring Magnitsky's murderers to justice. In the United States, it passed a law, called Magnitsky, which provided for financial and financial penalties for travel to senior Russian officials, including prosecutors. Several other countries have since passed the Magnitsky law.
Russian prosecutors on Monday announced new charges against Browder, accusing him of training a criminal group to divert funds to Russia. They also claimed to suspect Magnitsky's death in prison to be intoxication and claimed they had a "theory" behind Browder.
Mikhail Alexandrov, of the Attorney General's Office, told reporters that they were commencing criminal proceedings for poisoning with a military-grade substance of the three people they called Browder's associates and that he was "very likely" that Magnitsky, who allegedly had similar symptoms, was also poisoned.
The new charges against Browder follow his conviction in absentia of 2013 by a Moscow court for tax evasion, accusations of tax evasion, which he dismissed as a sham.
The announcement comes as the Netherlands prepares to welcome diplomats from all EU member states to discuss a pan-European Magnitsky act.
Browder told the Associated Press Monday that he had no connection with the three men appointed by prosecutors and described the charges of poisoning as an attempt to discredit his campaign. for justice to be rendered to Magnitsky:
The reaction of President Vladimir Putin is so absurd that it only helps our campaign and our cause, he said.
Browder compared the new theory on Magnitsky's death to Russia's refusal to play its role in the collapse of the Malaysian flight MH17 in 2014: "It looks like it's MH17 where the Russians are accusing the Ukrainians of the plane that they shot. "
Prosecutors announced Monday that they would now place Browder on a wanted list and expected Interpol's cooperation.
Russia has already tried to put Browder on Interpol's list of wanted people, but the organization rejected these efforts, saying its prosecution was politically motivated.
Browder was briefly detained in Spain in May and released after the police found that the warrant for his arrest was no longer valid.
Monday's announcement comes two days before the date on which Interpol should elect its new leader, and a former Russian police chief is at the top of the ranking.
Browder said the possible appointment of a former Russian police officer "would put the organization at risk of being discredited".
Other critics of the Kremlin have spoken on the upcoming elections of Interpol.
Opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who has faced a host of detentions and criminal prosecutions, tweeted on Monday that his aides "have been abused" by Interpol officials. who were complying with Russian warrants to persecute opponents of the Kremlin and had warned that the Russian candidate would only make matters worse: "I do not think that a Russian president will help reduce such violations."
Asked about Interpol's upcoming vote on the Browder case, Attorney General's spokesman Alexander Kurennoy told reporters that Moscow viewed the organization as "trusted partners" and was hoping that "the procedures would be followed on a regular basis" when submitted. a warrant for Browder.
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