https://web.archive.org/web/20160617135115/https://nationalinterest.org/feature/what-really-killed-sergei-magnitsky-16612
>Nekrasov is known for his documentaries such as Rebellion: The Litvinenko Case, and Russian Lessons, about the Russo-Georgian War. He has frequently criticized the Russian government
"Rebellion: the Litvinenko Case" apparently "contends that Russian state security service FSB, the successor agency to the KGB, organized bombings of apartments in Moscow and taking hostages in a Moscow theater to justify the second war in Chechnya and bring Vladimir Putin to power" so he's no ally of Putin!
>The generally accepted narrative of the Magnitsky affair is that lawyer Sergei Magnitsky was employed by the American-born owner of Hermitage Capital Management, William Browder, in an effort to investigate the theft of assets from his companies by the Russian police. Magnitsky then courageously exposed these actions, was arrested and died in pretrial detention in a Russian prison after being tortured, beaten and denied medical care. It is this story of heroism that Nekrasov set out to tell, leaning heavily on Browder for the details of the case.
>as Nekrasov reviews the footage, he begins to feel uneasy about some gaps and contradictions in Browder’s story. The Russian Presidential Human Rights Council suggested that Magnitsky died of acute heart failure, not injuries—a declaration easy to pass off as a Russian coverup. But when Nekrasov interviews Magnitsky’s mother, she too denies some of Browder’s narrative and says that she does not believe her son was intentionally murdered—rather, medical negligence after his decline into ill health caused his death.
>Magnitsky’s accusation of Karpov is the fundamental backbone of Browder’s story—though Karpov asserts, and Nekrasov discovers, that Magnitsky’s original testimony contains no reference to Karpov or any accusations at all. The English translation of the testimony, however—which Browder provided to investigative committees, including the Council of Europe—shows a testimony more amenable to Browder’s story. In the original Russian, it is clear that Magnitsky made no accusations; rather, he was being questioned by the police as a witness in the investigation of Browder. Magnitsky was questioned about the $230 million, but newspaper records show that this figure was already publically known.
>Since Magnitsky’s supposed accusation was the reason for his arrest, Browder’s story begins to unravel. For months, Nekrasov has difficulty tracking down Browder for comment, and has to confront him, rather unsuccessfully, at a book signing. Eventually, they meet on camera, and as Nekrasov explains his findings, Browder grows visibly uncomfortable and accuses Nekrasov of spreading Russian government propaganda.