Lawyer Jamison Firestone Forced to Flee Russia

Breaking news from Bloomberg:  Lawyer Jamison Firestone, founding partner of the law firm Firestone Duncan and former employer of Sergei Magnitsky, has been forced to flee Russia for his own safety following the alleged perpetration of another corporate identity fraud for false tax rebates … the same type of fraud and official corruption against which he defended his client Hermitage Capital and William Browder.

We should not have to look far to discover who may be responsible for this horribly outrageous attack – In December Firestone published an opinion article in the Moscow Times which named names of many of the government’s highest ranking corrupt officials whom he claimed were responsible for the murder by medical blackmail of his employee Sergei Magnitsky.

Further, Firestone left a lengthy comment on this blog last Nov. 20 in response to a pro-government provocateur who was arguing a justification of Magnitsky’s death in prison.  He wrote, “Speaking as a lawyer who has been practicing in Russia since 1993, I
can tell you that in today’s Russia the greatest threats that most
Russians face are from the law enforcement bodies. Ask around if you
don’t believe me.  In the 1990s, criminals who wanted to steal sent people with guns.
Today they find corrupt officers in the law enforcement agencies, and
for a fee they will create a case. The case does not have to make
sense, and they will imprison anyone who opposes them, so that they can
steal the assets.

Given the most recent events, Firestone was not exaggerating.  Below is an excerpt from the Bloomberg coverage.

Firestone, a graduate of Tulane University and Tulane Law School in New Orleans, said he “miscalculated.” He thought he would be safe because arresting a U.S. citizen and board member of the American Chamber of Commerce could create what he called an “international incident.” The second fraud attempt, which occurred after Magnitsky’s death, convinced him he was wrong and that he could be framed or imprisoned for reporting the crime, he said.

He left his apartment in Moscow before Christmas, as if going away for the holiday, and hasn’t been back, he said.

“Sooner or later they were going to do to me what they did to Sergei,” said Firestone. “Everything is repeating itself. It’s the same technique.”