MOSCOW, August 7 - RAPSI. The Moscow Tverskoy District Court has postponed until September 13 the hearings in the case of former Butyrka jail warden Dmitry Kratov, who has been charged with improperly executing his duty to provide medical assistance to detainees, which resulted in Hermitage Capital fund auditor Sergei Magnitsky's death.

The defense submitted a number of applications on Tuesday, including a motion to recuse the judge. However, the judge refused to consider the appeals, and the attorney submitted an appeal against his actions. Thus, the hearings into Kratov's case were postponed until September.

The investigation into Kratov's case has already ended. The case was earlier separated from the main case of Magnitsky's wrongful death. Kratov was charged with negligent breach of duty resulting in death. He faces up to five years in prison. He has been released on his own recognizance.

Magnitsky was charged with masterminding large-scale corporate tax evasion.

According to investigators, he and his accomplices stole 5.4 billion rubles ($170.83 million) from the state by manipulating tax returns between September and October 2007.

Magnitsky died in the Matrosskaya Tishina pretrial detention center on November 16, 2009 after spending nearly a year in pretrial detention. However, he spent most of his prison time in the Butyrka jail. His death evoked a massive public outcry.

The investigation into his death continues.

In turn, Hermitage Capital has maintained that the investment fund had paid the 5.4 billion rubles in taxes, but that the money was stolen by corporate raiders with the help of law enforcement officials. Magnitsky's prosecution was attributed to this theft.

Larisa Litvinova, the detention center's doctor, was also charged in the case. She has been released and has escaped prosecution as the statute of limitations has passed.