The lawyer for the family of whistleblower Sergei Magnitsky is in hospital after a fall from his apartment. Russian media say there was no foul play, but Magnitsky's former employer said the lawyer had been "thrown."
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Nikolai Gorokhov, a lawyer who has been hired by the family of Sergei Magnitsky (photo above), a Russian whistleblower who died in jail eight years ago, is in intensive care after falling from his fourth-floor Moscow apartment, Russian media reported.
Interfax news agency reported that Gorokhov, 53, who had been due to represent Magnitsky's mother in a Moscow court on Wednesday in a hearing linked to a $230 million (213 million euro) alleged tax fraud case exposed by Magnitsky, plunged from the apartment as a crane was lifting a large bath into his home. Interfax quoted an unnamed law enforcement officer as saying the case had no "criminal element."
However, a statement released by Magnitsky's former employer, William Browder, a US citizen living in the UK, said Gorokhov had been "thrown from the fourth floor of his apartment building ... and is currently hospitalized in the intensive care unit of Botkin hospital in Moscow with severe head injuries." Browder did not give a source for his information.
The statement added that Gorokhov was also a key witness in a separate US court case connected with the alleged tax fraud.
International uproar
Magnitsky was himself arrested on tax evasion charges in 2008 shortly after accusing top Russian officials of involvement in the tax fraud, and later died in prison, aged just 37, while awaiting trial.
Although the Kremlin's own human rights council has spoken of some evidence suggesting that Magnitsky was beaten to death, Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied that there was any foul play, saying the whistleblower had died of heart failure.
Magnitsky's death triggered international outrage, with the United States under the Obama administration blacklisting 18 Russians for human rights violations in connection with the affair. Russia responded in kind.
Browder, who was sentenced in absentia to nine years in prison for tax evasion by the same Russian court that ruled Magnitsky guilty, is leading an international campaign that was launched after Magnitsky's death to uncover corruption and human rights violations in Russia.
The different faces of Vladimir Putin
Forbes magazine ranked Russian President Vladimir Putin as the most powerful person of 2016 - followed by US President-elect Donald Trump. This picture gallery shows different aspects of Putin's personality.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
From KGB to Kremlin
Putin joined the KGB, the former Soviet Union's security agency, in 1975. In the 1980s he undertook his first foreign posting as a KGB agent to Dresden, Germany. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, Putin returned to Russia and entered Boris Yeltsin's Kremlin. When Yeltsin announced that he wanted Putin as his successor, the way was paved for him to become prime minister.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/M.Klimentyev
First presidency
On his appointment, Putin was virtually unknown to the general public. This changed when in August 1999 armed men from Chechnya invaded the neighboring Russian territory of Dagestan. President Yeltsin appointed ex-KGB officer Putin to bring Chechnya back under the central government's control. On New Year's Eve, Yeltsin unexpectedly resigned and named Putin as acting president.
Image: picture alliance/AP Images
Tough guy in the media
During an exhibition hockey game in Sochi, Putin’s team won 18-6, with the president scoring eight goals.
Image: picture-alliance/AP/A. Nikolsky
Limited freedom of speech
A protester wears a tape over his mouth reading "Putin" during an opposition rally. In 2013 the Kremlin announced that the state-owned news agency, RIA Novosti, was to be restructured and placed under the control of a pro-Kremlin figure known for his extreme anti-Western views. Reporters without Borders ranked Russia as 148 in its list of 178 countries in terms of press freedom.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/V.Maximov
Putin's Image: A man of action
Putin's image as a man of action, boosted by his having been a KGB spy, has long been part of his appeal in Russia. It is carefully maintained by means of photos where he is seen bare-chested on horseback, or tossing opponents onto a judo mat. In Russia, Putin has earned praise for restoring stability but has also been accused of authoritarianism.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/A. Nikoskyi
Stifling democracy
When President Putin's United Russia party won a landslide victory in parliamentary elections in 2007, critics described the vote as neither free nor democratic. Dozens were detained as riot police broke up protests by demonstrators accusing President Putin of stifling democracy. In this rally the poster reads: "Thank you, no!"
Image: Getty Images/AFP/Y.Kadobnov
Orchestrated events
In Sevastopol, Crimea, Putin looks through the window of a research bathyscaphe in the waters of the Black Sea. This dive in a mini-submarine was only one of his adventurous stunts; he has also been seen tranquilizing wild tigers and flying with endangered cranes. It was also aimed at cementing his image as an adventurer, and demonstrating his control of the annexed territory of Crimea.
