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Father-of-two killed after confronting corrupt Russian officials and mobsters (Photo: Dmitry Rozhkov)

Feature

Widow's plea as EU diplomats debate Magnitsky Act

Father-of-two killed after confronting corrupt Russian officials and mobsters (Photo: Dmitry Rozhkov)

Ten years ago, on 16 November 2009 in a jail cell in Moscow, guards strapped Sergei Magnitsky, a 37-year old father of two, to a bench and lashed him with rubber batons.

He was already suffering from pancreatitis, contracted due to the appalling conditions in the Butyrka prison where he had languished for almost a year, and he died later the same day.

His 'offence' was to have alerted Russian authorities to the fact an organised crime group, which included senior Russian offici...

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Author Bio

Andrew Rettman is EUobserver's Foreign Affairs Editor. He has been writing about foreign and security affairs for EUobserver since 2005. He is Polish but grew up in the UK. He has also written for The Guardian, The Telegraph, and The Times of London.

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