Former investigator in the case of Sergei Magnitsky, Pavel Karpov, filed a statement with the Ministry of Internal Affairs against opposition leader Alexei Navalny, whom he accuses of libel.

Former investigator in the case of Sergei Magnitsky Pavel Karpov (Photo: Artem Korotaev/TASS)

As Karpov told RBC, on Monday, May 16, he filed a statement regarding libel by Navalny and other persons unknown to him. According to the former investigator, they accused him of committing grave and especially grave crimes.

“We are talking about four Russian untouchables (Untouchable Russians) videos that were distributed by [the head of the Hermitage Capital fund] William Browder as part of his campaign against me,” Karpov explained. He recalled that in 2015 the Meshchansky Court of Moscow recognized this information as untrue. Despite this, Navalny continued at the end of 2015 and in April 2015 to distribute articles on his website and on the Ekho Moskvy website with images of these videos and links to them, the former investigator emphasized.

“In addition, in one of the articles he wrote that he put a lot of effort into distributing these videos. As a lawyer, [he] is accountable for his actions,” Karpov added.

The official representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Irina Volk, did not answer RBC’s call. The department's press service was unable to promptly respond to a request for comment. RBC's interlocutor in the office of the capital's police department said that the department for organizing the investigation is dealing with the case.

According to Life, a criminal case was opened based on Karpov’s statement, but RBC was unable to obtain confirmation of this information.

Navalny's foundation spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh told RBC that Navalny had not received a notification and that this was the first time the foundation had heard about Karpov's statement.

Karpov has not yet received a decision to initiate a case.
When asked why he decided to file an application only now, Karpov replied that he was busy in court with Browder and with deputy Dmitry Gudkov. In addition, he “waited for Alexei to calm down.”

In his statement, Karpov did not ask to initiate a case against Echo of Moscow, he noted. To establish whether the radio station in this case is involved in the commission of a crime is the task of the investigation, he believes.

In 1995–2006, Hermitage Capital was one of the largest foreign investment funds operating on the Russian market.

Sergei Magnitsky headed the tax and audit department at Firestone Duncan, which provided legal services, including to the Hermitage Capital Management fund. Magnitsky died in the Matrosskaya Tishina pre-trial detention center in November 2009. He was accused of involvement in organizing the illegal return of allegedly overpaid income taxes for 2006.

In 2012, the United States adopted the so-called Magnitsky Act, which introduced personal sanctions against individuals suspected in Washington of involvement in the lawyer’s death. In April 2013, the US Treasury included Karpov on the Magnitsky list.

Former investigator asked to open a criminal case against Navalny