A Moscow court is today holding a preliminary hearing in the case against Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, the first time a dead man has been put on trial for tax evasion.

Mr Magnitsky, who died in prison in 2009, was arrested after pointing the finger at officials for tax fraud but later was himself accused.

'Deeply sinister'

The trial has attracted  international outcry with Amnesty International describing it as  ‘farcical but also deeply sinister’. Lawyers taking on the case have also been blasted with Magnitsky’s family boycotting the trial.

It is expected that the hearing will set a date for the start of the trial. Mr Magnitsky’s boss Bill Browder, founder of Hermitage Capital Management is also on trial although he is no longer in Russia having lost his Russian visa in 2005.