MOSCOW, December 8 (RAPSI, Diana Gutsul) – Russia’s Supreme Court has turned down an appeal filed by the mother of Hermitage Capital auditor Sergei Magnitsky, who died in a Moscow detention facility, against the posthumous prosecution of her son, her attorney Nikolai Gorokhov told RAPSI on Monday.

Gorokhov will appeal this ruling again. He is going to address the complaint to Supreme Court Chairman Vyacheslav Lebedev.

Hermitage Capital noted earlier that in her appeal, Natalya Magnitskaya claims that the courts of lower instance refused to find the actions of an Interior Ministry investigator illegal.

Magnitsky worked for Firestone Duncan and represented Hermitage Capital which was accused of tax evasion by Russian authorities. Magnitsky was arrested on fraud charges in November 2008 and found dead in a Moscow detention center in November 2009.

Last July, the Tverskoy District Court of Moscow found Magnitsky guilty of tax evasion and closed the case due to his death. According to the case materials, Magnitsky’s and Hermitage Capital director William Browder’s actions cost the Russian Federation over 500 million rubles (about $9.5 mln). Browder was sentenced to nine years in prison in absentia.

The lawyer’s death resulted in a huge public response. The defendants in the case included ex-chief of the Butyrsky Detention Facility, Dmitry Kratov, and the facility’s doctor, Larisa Litvinova. The criminal case against Litvinova was closed due to changes in the criminal code, under which the statute of limitations had expired. Kratov, who was charged with improper execution of his duties, was found not guilty by the Tverskoy District Court since there was no relationship found between his actions and Magnitsky’s death. Magnitskaya’s representative appealed the ruling in the Moscow City Court and requested the case be reopened. The court rejected the appeal.