Cartoonist Yuri Norshtein suggested that the cause of death in the pre-trial detention center of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky could have been “heart failure” of Russian President Vladimir Putin. A recording of Norshtein's speech is available on YouTube.

Speaking at the award ceremony for the Vladimir Vysotsky “Own Track” Prize, Norshtein commented on one of the previous speeches - Dr. Leonid Roshal, who stated that Russia lacks 120 thousand doctors.

“I immediately connected this in my head with when Putin said: 'Magnitsky died of heart failure,' Norshtein continued. "I think Magnitsky died of 'heart failure'... both Putin and the prison warden." The cartoonist’s speech was interrupted by applause and shouts of “bravo.”

Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer for the British fund Hermitage Capital, died in a pre-trial detention center in November 2009. He was arrested on charges of facilitating large-scale tax evasion. After several months in the isolation ward, Magnitsky's health problems worsened - his lawyers stated that he was not given medications and was also denied medical care.

On November 16, doctors at the Matrosskaya Tishina pre-trial detention center certified the lawyer’s death from a ruptured pancreas as a result of pancreatic necrosis, but then the investigation stated that Magnitsky died of a heart attack. The deceased Hermitage lawyer is survived by his wife and two children. Magnitsky's death caused a serious resonance - following the results of an official investigation, the head of the Moscow department of the Federal Penitentiary Service, Vladimir Davydov, and the head of the Butyrsky detention center, Vadim Magomedov, were dismissed.

A private investigation by Hermitage Capital concluded that the case against Magnitsky and his alleged persecution in the pre-trial detention center were ordered by the security forces, whom Magnitsky had convicted of large-scale thefts from the Russian budget. However, no official conclusions were drawn from the materials transferred by Hermitage representatives to the Department of Internal Security (DSB) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation.

In 2011, the RF Investigative Committee, based on the results of the fourth medical examination, admitted that “shortcomings in providing medical care to Magnitsky” could have led to the lawyer’s death. The conclusions of this examination were attached to the statement of the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation. Human rights activists blamed a number of specific doctors and security officials for Magnitsky’s death. However, the Ministry of Internal Affairs refused to carry out an investigation based on the findings of the HRC.

Yuri Norshtein has the title of People's Artist of the USSR, three state prizes and a number of other honorary awards. The director's greatest fame came from the cartoons "Hedgehog in the Fog" and "Tale of Tales." At the “Your Way” award ceremony, Norshtein awarded the bard Elena Kamburova.

Norshtein pointed to Putin's "heart failure"