MOSCOW, December 20 - RAPSI. The Moscow Tverskoy District Court will start hearing the case regarding lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who died in an investigative isolation ward in 2009, on December 27, the court's press secretary Alexandra Berezina told the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI/rapsinews.com).

"The preliminary hearings into the case will be held on December 27," she said.

According to legislation, this stage will be held behind closed doors. The hearing will address the procedural issues of the upcoming trial.

Hermitage Capital auditor Sergei Magnitsky was charged with masterminding large-scale corporate tax evasion.

Investigators claimed that Magnitsky and his accomplices stole hundreds of millions of rubles from the state by manipulating tax returns between September and October 2007. He died in a Moscow pretrial detention center on November 16, 2009 after spending a year behind bars. Magnitsky's prosecution was terminated after his death , but later the investigation was reopened.

According to the Prosecutor General's Office, his death was caused by cardiovascular insufficiency. His death sparked a public outcry and triggered amendments to the Criminal Code and a reshuffling of officials in the penal system. According to investigators, Magnitsky and his accomplices stole hundreds of millions of rubles from the state by manipulating tax returns between September and October 2007.