Sergei Magnitsky sketch: empty cage a reminder of bizarre case About 40 television cameramen and reporters packed into the sweltering room on the third floor of Tverskoy Court, to hear Judge Igor Alisov read his verdict. The two court-appointed defence lawyers decided to dress down for the solemn occasion. One wore a Hawaiian shirt and yellow-tinted sunglasses. Before the hearing, reporters had compared notes on the legal precedents: when was the last prosecution of a dead man in Europe? Was it the posthumous trial of Pope Formosus, whose body was exhumed in 897 and propped in a chair in a Roman church to face charges of perjury? Officially, Mr Magnitsky was put on trial under a law introduced in Russia two years ago to give dead defendants a chance for exoneration. But such a measure requires family consent - and the lawyer's mother and widow had repeated endless times they were against the charade. Neither was present to see the ghost in the dock. Now Judge Alisov was taking his place as the officers in front of his bench straightened their backs and the sound men craned their microphones. He read in a barely audible mumble. It was a style familiar from other show trials - Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Pussy Riot - hinting at both personal shame and scorn for the listener. The speech would last an hour and a half. But the verdict was quickly revealed. The court "established that Mr Browder organised an evasion of taxes," said the judge. Mr Magnitsky had drawn up the plan. "Guilty," went the murmur around the room. Judge Alisov took a breath, sighed deeply, and carried on. He did not look at the empty cage.