MOSCOW, December 11 (RAPSI) – Deaths in Moscow detention facilities dropped by more than 25 percent during the past year to 27 inmates, according to Anatoly Tikhomirov, head of the Moscow branch of the Federal Penitentiary Service.
“The mortality rate has decreased this year, and this is a pattern that has been observed over the last few years. Some 44 people died last year, while 27 deaths were recorded this year,” Tikhomirov said at a meeting of the Public Chamber.
He added that 19 people died of illnesses and eight people committed suicide.
Tikhomirov reported that more than 50 detainees underwent medical examinations during the year. Nineteen inmates were found to be in poor health, 14 of whom were later released from custody for medical reasons.
In November 2009, Sergei Magnitsky, an auditor for the UK-based investment fund Hermitage Capital, died in an isolation ward at the age of 37 after spending a year in pre-trial detention. According to the Prosecutor General's Office, his death was caused by cardiovascular insufficiency. A Kremlin human rights commission said in a subsequent investigation that Magnitsky had been badly beaten shortly before his death.
The death of Magnitsky, who had been arrested on tax evasion charges after exposing what he believed was a $230 million tax fraud carried out by Russian officials, provoked a major public outcry and prompted the US to issue travel and financial sanctions on Russian officials and others believed to have been involved in his death and the case against him.
