The judge who sanctioned the arrest of Vera Trifonova, a seriously ill businesswoman who died in pretrial detention, should be fired, said Anatoly Kucherena, a lawyer and member of the Public Chamber.

Kucherena promised to demand the dismissal of Judge Olga Makarova during a meeting Wednesday with Makarova's superior, Vasily Voloshin, the top judge for the Moscow Regional Court, Interfax reported.

Voloshin has already ordered an investigation into Makarova's actions.

Trifonova, 53, was arrested in December on fraud charges and died Friday in Matrosskaya Tishina, the pretrial detention center where Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer for Hermitage Capital, died in November under similar circumstances.

The investigator who refused requests to release Trifonova from custody because of her poor health is being investigated on suspicion of negligence and, if charged, faces up to five years in prison. Two other investigators have been fired in connection with Trifonova's death.

The Investigative Committee said it would open an investigation into how officials treat complaints from detainees.