Voice of America has published an important piece on the death of Hermitage lawyer Sergei Magnitsky and the practice of medical blackmail in Russian prisons:

Magnitsky developed problems with his pancreas and gall bladder as a result of what his American business associate, Jamison Firestone, described to VOA as filthy prison conditions. They included a tiny cell with two other people, no hot water, a shower once a week, and a kitchen above a hole in the floor that served as a toilet.

Firestone says the denial of medical care resulted in a slow motion killing by Interior Ministry officials seeking to hide corruption Magnitsky helped expose. The Ministry is often referred to by its Russian abbreviation, MVD.