Ex Top Foreign Investor: Russia Is 'Criminal State'

Through Hermitage Capital, Bill Browder campaigned against corruption at some of Russia's largest companies. Photo by telegraph.co.uk

Russia has now turned into a "criminal state", according to the man who was once its leading foreign investor.

Bill Browder of Hermitage Capital was reacting to the news that his lawyer had died in prison in Russia after being held for a year without charge.

He told the BBC that his lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, had in effect been "held hostage and they killed their hostage."

Through Hermitage Capital, Bill Browder campaigned against corruption at some of Russia's largest companies.

Russian officials say they are investigating Magnitsky's death.

In 2005, Browder was banned from Russia as a threat to national security after allegations that his firms had evaded tax, but Browder says his company was targeted by criminals trying to seize millions of pounds worth of his assets.

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