Putin signs bill barring adoptions of Russian children by Americans MOSCOW President Vladimir Putin has signed a bill banning Americans from adopting Russian children. The bill is part of the country's increasingly confrontational stance with the West and has angered some Russians who argue it victimizes children to make a political point. UNICEF estimates there are about 740,000 children not in parental custody in Russia. The law also blocks dozens of Russian children now in the process of being adopted by American families from leaving the country. The U.S. is the biggest destination for adopted Russian children. More than 60,000 of them have been taken in by Americans over the past two decades. The Russian bill is retaliation for an American law that calls for sanctions against Russian officials deemed human rights violators. The signing comes on the same day the only official charged in the case that led, at least indirectly, to the new Russian law walked free. The official, charged in the death of a Russian whistleblowing lawyer, was acquitted of negligence by a Moscow court. The case has become a rallying point for human rights advocates and sparked escalating legislation in both the U.S. and Russia, including the adoptions bill. Sergei Magnitsky died in jail in 2009 after his pancreatitis went untreated, and an investigation by Russia's presidential council on human rights concluded he was severely beaten and denied medical treatment. Prison doctor Dmitry Kratov was the only person to face trial in the case. Judge Tatyana Neverova said she found no evidence that Kratov's negligence could have caused the lawyer's death. The acquittal was widely expected after prosecutors earlier this week dropped their accusations, saying they had decided there was no connection between Kratov's actions and Magnitsky's death. The case has angered both Russian activists and the West. The U.S. Congress passed legislation this month in Magnitsky's name, calling for sanctions against officials deemed to be connected with human rights abuses. The bill provoked retaliation from Moscow, including the measure Putin signed Friday. Magnitsky, a lawyer for the Hermitage Capital fund, was arrested in 2008 on suspicion of tax evasion by the same Interior Ministry officials he accused of using false tax documents to steal $230 million from the state. He died while in custody awaiting trial. Government officials have dismissed calls to investigate police officials and the only official charged in his death was Kratov, who was deputy chief physician at the Butyrskaya prison where Magnitsky was held. Hermitage's owner, Bill Browder, said the outcome of the trial shows the government's unwillingness to find and try the culprits. "Even though Kratov was only a minor player in the overall persecution of Sergei, the fact that the Russian authorities can't even scapegoat their one scapegoat says everything about this case," Browder said. Kratov pleaded not guilty to charges of negligence leading to death, saying he was unable to ensure medical care for Magnitsky because of a shortage of staff. The lawyer's family has described the trial as a sham, maintaining that Kratov played a minor role in the man's death and that officials responsible must face justice. The lawyer's mother and attorney did not attend the ruling in protest. "Participation in this court hearing would have been humiliating for me," Nataliya Magnitskaya said in a statement. I understand that everything has been decided in advance and everything has been pre-determined. Valery Borshchev, a human rights advocate who spearheaded the presidential commission's investigation into Magnitsky's death, was outraged with the court's decision. Borshchev insisted that authorities must investigate overwhelming evidence collected by his commission that points to the fact that Magnitsky was tortured. "Kratov and others are guilty because there were inadequate conditions to treat Magnitsky," he told the Interfax news agency. The conditions in jail were torturous, and doctors didn't do anything to change that.