Sergei Leonidovich Magnitsky (Russian: ?????´? ?????´????? ?????´?????; 8 April 1972 – 16 November 2009) was a Russian tax advisor.
His arrest in 2008 and subsequent death after eleven months in police custody generated international media attention and triggered both official and unofficial inquiries into allegations of fraud, theft and human rights violations in Russia.Magnitsky alleged there had been large-scale theft from the Russian state, sanctioned and carried out by Russian officials.
He was arrested and eventually died in prison seven days before the expiration of the one-year term during which he could be legally held without trial.
In total, Magnitsky served 358 days in Moscow's Butyrka prison.
He developed gall stones, pancreatitis, and a blocked gall bladder, and received inadequate medical care.
A human rights council set up by the Kremlin found that he had been physically assaulted shortly before his death.
In response, Russia condemned the Act and claimed Magnitsky was guilty of crimes.In early January 2013, the Financial Times wrote that "the Magnitsky case is egregious, well documented and encapsulates the darker side of Putinism".