Russia: Echoes of Magnitsky In Principal’s Death In Prison

Andrei Kudoyarov, 48, died in jail of an apparent heart attack. He had been held since May on charges that he took a 240,000 ruble bribe in exchange for accepting a student into Moscow School No. 1308.
Kudoyarov, who had worked in education for nearly 20 years, had insisted he was innocent, and many parents of children at his school came forward in his defense. The money in question had been used for repairs at the school and that Kudoyarov had been framed.

Kudoyarov’s sudden passing bears certain similarities to that of Magnitsky, a 37-year-old lawyer whose 2009 death while in pretrial detention sparked international outrage.

Authorities initially ruled that Magnitsky died of heart failure while awaiting charges on embezzlement and tax evasion, but human rights groups argued that he had been refused medical treatment even as his health deteriorated in custody. An independent, Kremlin-ordered investigation found this summer that Magnitsky was badly beaten by prison guards shortly before his death.“This situation is exactly the same as with Magnitsky.”

“This is yet another symptom of improperly using the justice system as a weapon and it must be changed,” said Borshchyov, a veteran lawyer and human rights activist.