Source: HRO.org (info), 16/11/11

· Human rights defenders

· Prisoners

Russian human rights defenders have promised to secure a full and thorough investigation into the death of Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer working for the Hermitage Capital investment fund. Ludmila Alekseeva, head of the Moscow Helsinki Group, said that human rights defenders will not give up on this case until a full and thorough investigation has been completed and all those guilty brought to justice.

Ludmila Alekseeva said that it is also necessary to investigate the embezzlement of public funds uncovered by Sergei Magnitsky.

The day before Ludmila Alekseeva issued this statement, Kirill Kabanov, head of the National Anti-Corruption Committee, said that the role of Russian law enforcement agencies and officials in the Magnitsky case had not yet been investigated, Radio Liberty reported, citing Interfax.

Earlier it was reported that on 24 November the Presidential Council on Human Rights is to hold a special session dedicated to the case of Sergei Magnitsky.

Sergei Magnitsky, who had accused a number of law enforcement officials of large scale embezzlement, died in a Moscow pre-trial detention centre in 2009.