Russian authorities went ahead Wednesday with the controversial posthumous trial of whistleblowing lawyer Sergei Magnitsky for tax evasion despite repeated protests by his family. Magnitsky's family and their lawyers have boycotted the trial, which had to be repeatedly adjourned, but the latest hearing finally got underway at a Moscow court with witnesses accusing Magnitsky of resorting to various schemes to avoid taxes.

Russian investigators on Tuesday dropped their probe into the death in custody of a whistleblowing attorney whose case soured relations between Moscow and Washington. The investigators said they had no evidence to confirm claims that Sergei Magnitsky had died in 2009 at the age of 37 from beatings by prison officials. "Based on the preliminary investigation's results, a decision was taken to end the criminal case due to a lack of evidence of a crime," the Investigative Committee said in a statement.

Russian investigators on Tuesday dropped their investigation into the 2009 death in jail of a whistleblowing attorney whose case led to a crisis in relations between Russia and the United States. The investigators said they had no evidence that Sergei Magnitsky died at the age of 37 from beatings by prison staff, as his family and US-born former employer William Browder claim. "Based on the preliminary investigation's results, a decision was taken to end the criminal case due to a lack of evidence of a crime," the Investigative Committee said in a statement.

A Moscow court on Monday put dead Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky on trial for tax evasion in defiance of his family's complaints it was "desecrating" his memory, but swiftly adjourned the process to March 22. After several preliminary hearings earlier this year, the trial proper got underway at the Tverskoi district court but the judge quickly adjourned the hearing to give the court-appointed defence more time to prepare. The tiny courtroom was crammed with journalists who barely had any room to stand while the cage that usually holds defendants stood symbolically empty.