[Washington Post] A Russian court wrapped up the trial of a dead man Thursday, finding whistle-blower Sergei Magnitsky guilty of fraud but waiving a sentence on the grounds that his life ended while he was imprisoned nearly four years ago.Might as well have given him the death sentence. Though, now they have a conviction they'll go after his estate for "restitution."
Magnitsky was a lawyer who unearthed a $230 million fraud by police and tax officials, but he was arrested and charged with perpetrating the fraud himself. He died in a Moscow prison in 2009, apparently after a severe beating.
"Authoritarian" isn't the same as "totalitarian," no more than mashed potatoes is the same as a cheeseburger. Like mashed potatoes and cheeseburgers, the end result is the same.