STOCKHOLM, April 24 (RAPSI) – The Norwegian Helsinki Committee (NHC) has filed an application to open a criminal investigation into the alleged role of Russian officials in the torture and killing of Russian tax lawyer Sergei Magnitsky in 2009, Chief Public Prosecutor Siri Frigaard, head of the Norwegian National Authority for Prosecution of Organized and Other Serious Crime, told RAPSI.

She said they would examine the application and relevant documents to determine if the Norwegian Authority for Prosecution has the power to investigate the crime.

Sergei Magnitsky was a tax auditor at the Moscow law firm Firestone Duncan and representative of the investment advisory firm Hermitage Capital Management, which was accused of tax evasion and tax fraud by the Russian Interior Ministry. He was arrested on fraud charges in November 2008 and was found dead in his Moscow cell in November 2009.

The NHC statement for the press published on April 23 says: “The Norwegian Helsinki Committee (NHC) hereby requests that Norway’s Prosecutorial Services open a criminal investigation into Russian citizen Oleg Silchenko for his role in the torture and killing of Russian tax lawyer Sergei Magnitsky in 2009. In addition, NHC requests investigations of the role of others, including Mr. Markov and Mr. Kuznetsov, in the torture and killing of Sergei Magnitsky.”

The NHC believes that the investigation of Silchenko’s alleged role in the Magnitsky case should be conducted in accordance with “the Norwegian Penal Code (LOV 2005-05-20 nr 28, Sections 174 and 175) and the 1994 UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment of Punishment.”

According to the application, the Norwegian National Authority for Prosecution of Organized and Other Serious Crime has authority to prosecute serious organized crime and special international crimes, including crimes against humanity.