MOSCOW, December 9 - RAPSI. The court has upheld the decision to reopen the $172 million tax evasion case in which Hermitage Capital fund lawyer Sergei Magnitsky died in a pretrial detention center, the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI/rapsinews.com) reports from the courtroom.

Magnitsky, a lawyer for the Hermitage Capital fund, died of cardiovascular insufficiency in a Moscow pretrial detention center on November 16, 2009 after spending a year in confinement. His death sparked public outrage.

The court dismissed Magnitsky's mother's complaint, who said that by resuming the case the investigation damaged the good name of her deceased son.

Her lawyer Nikolai Gorokhov said the case was opened by the Interior Ministry's Investigative Department in summer 2011.