MOSCOW, December 19 - RAPSI, Diana Gutsul. The Moscow Tverskoy District Court has decided to compel a number of witnesses to appear before court in the criminal case against former deputy head of the Moscow pretrial detention ward Butyrka Dmitry Kratov. It has therefore postponed the case until December 21, the court told the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI/rapsinews.com).

Kratov has been charged with negligence in regards to the death of Sergei Magnitsky.

Judge Tatyana Neverova found that the prosecutor had not taken all measures to ensure that the witnesses appeared before the court on Wednesday and ruled to compel those who live in Moscow to be present. However, the judge refused to bring in as a witness the man who was kept in the same cell as Magnitsky.

Nikolay Gorokhov, the representative of Magnitsky's mother, criticized the judge's actions, saying that the judge put pressure on the prosecutor by asking him every time what new information each witness could bring.

"All witnesses are summoned to report on whether Kratov is guilty or not guilty," the prosecutor responded to the judge, but she again asked him to specify what exactly each witness could say.

The representatives of Magnitsky's mother and wife insisted that Podolin, a key witness in the case, who was kept in the same cell as Magnitsky, should be brought before the court, as they believe that he has more information on the matter than all the other witnesses; however, the judge dismissed the prosecutor's motion and left the hall without hearing the parties' opinions.

A total of 35 individuals have been brought into the case as witnesses. Around 15 have yet to testify. Yesterday, the judge said that if the prosecution's witnesses failed to appear before court, the court would start interrogating the witnesses for the defense. Kratov has told RAPSI that there would be no other witnesses from his side.

Magnitsky was arrested on tax evasion charges in November 2008, just days after accusing investigators of committing a $230 million tax refund fraud. He died after almost a year in the Matrosskaya Tishina pretrial detention center in Moscow.