MOSCOW, February 28 – RAPSI. Over 4,000 prison inmates died in Russia last year, Magomed Rasulov, a spokesman for the Prosecutor-General’s Office said while addressing a meeting of the Federal Penitentiary Service Board Thursday.

Rasulov did not cite any comparative statistics for 2011.

He added that Russia’s pre-trial detention centers, investigation wards and penitentiaries lacked the proper medical equipment. Most of the equipment they do have dates to the 1970s and 80s and has fallen into decay.

The infamous Magnitsky case highlights the major problems in the Russian penal system.

Sergei Magnitsky, an auditor for the London-based Hermitage Capital investment fund, who was arrested on November 24, 2008 on suspicion of masterminding large-scale corporate tax evasion, died at a Moscow pretrial detention center on November 16, 2009, after spending a year behind bars.

Federal prosecutors claimed that Magnitsky died of heart failure.

Magnitsky's death caused an international public outcry and triggered amendments to the Criminal Code and a reshuffling of officials in the penal system.

In its aftermath, the US Congress passed the Magnitsky Act, a law stipulating sanctions against Russian officials accused of human rights abuses.

The contents of the Magnitsky List is expected to be published next month.