July 14, 2010 By Citizen M

RA’s Daily Russian News Blast – July 14, 2010

Bashkortostan.jpgTODAY: Interior Ministry official rejects Hermitage accusations over Magnitsky case; more than 30% of prison population is ill, says new survey; Russian laws accused of being responsible for worsening HIV epidemic; curators appeal.  Regional strongmen on way out; another blow to mayoral voting; Russia-Ukraine abandon blacklist. SVR to interrogate returned Russia spies; Britain bids Anna Chapman farewell; preschool problem; road to Sochi pathed with gold  

Following the release of a new video on untouchables.com which accuses investigator Pavel Karpov of criminally profiting from the case against Hermitage Capital and complicity in the death of Sergei Magnitsky, Karpov has rejected the claims in a written statement and attempted to implicate Hermitage founder Bill Browder.  The Magnitsky case, and that of Vera Trifonova have put the spotlight on health in prison: apparently more than a third of all prisoners are suffering from illnesses, including AIDS, syphilis and tuberculosis, the Moscow Times reports.  If Russia eased its draconian laws on drug use the country could more than halve its rates of new HIV infections, says an expert in a British Medical Journal analysis.  Lawyers for Yury Samodurov and Andrei Yerofeyev, the curators who were found guilty of inciting religious hatred with the Forbidden Russia exhibition have filed an appeal to the Moscow City Court.  RFE/RL asks Elie Wiesel why he has spoken out on the Khodorkovsky case.  The chief executive of Rosneft has been summoned to give evidence