MOSCOW, January 9 - RAPSI. The mother of the late Hermitage Capital fund auditor Sergei Magnitsky has disputed the acquittal of Dmitry Kratov, former deputy head of the Butyrka pretrial detention center, accused of negligence which resulted in the death of Magnitsky, her attorney Nikolay Gorokhov told the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI/rapsinews.com) on Wednesday.

In late December, the court acquitted Kratov, ruling that there was no relation between Magnitsky's death and the doctor's actions.

On November 24, 2008, Magnitsky was arrested on suspicion of masterminding corporate tax evasion. He died in the pretrial detention center on November 16, 2009 after spending a year behind bars.

According to the Prosecutor General's Office, his death was caused by cardiovascular insufficiency.

Magnitsky's death evoked an international public outcry, triggering amendments to the Criminal Code and the reshuffling of officials in the penal system.

Kratov and the ward's doctor Larisa Litvinova were defendants in the case over Magnitsky's death.

However, the case against Litvinova was closed last spring due to amendments to the Criminal Code affecting the statute of limitations.

According to investigators, Magnitsky and his accomplices stole hundreds of millions of rubles from the state budget by manipulating tax returns between September and October 2007.

Meanwhile, Hermitage Capital maintains that it had paid 5.4 billion rubles ($182.75 million) in taxes, but the money was stolen by corporate raiders with the help of law enforcement officials.

Magnitsky's prosecution has been attributed to this theft.

Magnitsky's prosecution was terminated after his death, but later the investigation was reopened.

The Moscow City Court rejected an application in May filed by Magnitsky's relatives who demanded to close criminal case against him.

The Tverskoy District Court will hold the preliminary hearing in the case against Magnitsky on January 28.