The only Russian official still accused of involvement in the prison death of the whistleblowing lawyer Sergei Magnitsky was cleared by a Moscow court yesterday.
Dmitri Kratov, former deputy head of the Butyrka prison, was acquitted of negligence after prosecutors asked for the case to be dropped.
Judge Tatiana Neverova, of the Tverskoi district court in Moscow, said that the defendant had done all he could to help Mr Magnitsky.
The ruling came on the day that President Putin signed a law banning Americans from adopting Russian orphans.
The measure was regarded as retaliation for a decision by the US Congress to impose visa bans and asset freezes on 60 Russian officials accused of involvement in Mr Magnitsky’s death.
Mr Magnitsky, 37, died in agony