Victor Danilkin. The judge is under the sentence

Portrait of a person who will decide in the case of Khodorkovsky and Lebedev

The judge is under the sentence. The process in the case of Khodorkovsky and Lebedev entered his final stage: the debate of the parties began. In late October - early November, the chairman of the Khamovnichesky court, Viktor Danilkin, will retire to the advisory room to write a sentence. And whatever his decision, in any case, he will go down in the history of Russia: either as a judge who could not withstand the pressure of the system, or how to find a compromise between it and his conscience. Who is he, Viktor Danilkin - The New Times was looking for an answer to this question
For ten years now, almost every morning he has been doing the same way: from home to the Khamovniki district court in the 7th Rostov Lane of Moscow. Often it goes on foot - good, lives nearby, sometimes comes by car, the last few years - in the dark jeep of Honda CRV. Danilkin walks very quickly - almost athletic walking (once he even participated in 800 meters running competitions among the judges of Moscow and won), although the situation and status would rather require leisurely stepality. For his fifty -three, he is a little loose, and the abdomen, although small, has already acquired, which, however, is not uncommon for men, most of the time spent at the desk. A dark jacket, tie, light shirt, ironed trousers - not from a needle, but everything is always neat. A short haircut, a slightly elongated face, attentive eyes, glasses in a thin frame: when he starts to play at the judicial table, this is a sure sign - he worries, but tries to hide these internal torments.

Such a ceremonial portrait of its chairman was provided by The New Times, the press service of the Khamovnichesky District Court of Moscow

On the way to Glory, the biography of Viktor Nikolayevich Danilkin is quite ordinary, without surprises. He graduated from the Higher School of the Police, worked as an investigator in the Khamovniki police department, rose there to the deputy chief of the investigation department, mainly engaged in accident cases. And in 2000 he submitted documents for the position of federal judge. On July 15, 2000, the presidential decree on the appointment of judges of the district courts, among others, was also the name of Danilkin. “It was such a“ police call ”. At the beginning of the two thousandths, several people from the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs came to Moscow courts at once, ”lawyer Robert Zinoviev told The New Times. “Judge Schukov, Judge Mishin, here is Judge Danilkin.”

Lawyer Zinoviev met with him at the trial in the fall of 2001. It was the beginning of the judicial career of Danilkin. “We appealed the investigator’s decision on the initiation of a criminal case against the general director of the company Nikolai Ushakov. (In the UK at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, it was believed that the leaders of the company Nikkil stole tens of millions of dollars.) Judge Danilkin then showed independence: he was not afraid to go against the Investigative Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and satisfied our complaint about the unjustified criminal case against Ushakov, ”Zinoviev recalls.

The fame of Danilkin was brought by a scandalous story with the inheritance of the famous artist Nikolai Kupyanov-for the so far a simple forensic forensic, the Hamovnican Court of Moscow was a real test. The case was registered, fabricated, many different ones were tied in it, including prosecutorial interests, and Danilkin was tormented for a long time, lawyers say, trying to find a decision acceptable to all parties: “He did not dare to pass the acquittal: he was sure that the Moscow City Court would cancel it, and this was a marriage in his work. There was not enough evidence for the conviction, ”recalls Anna Panicheva’s lawyer. Having shown outstanding diplomatic abilities, Danilkin ultimately convinced the prosecutor that an acquittal was possible and therefore it would only be better for the state prosecution if the court sends the case to the prosecutor's office to re -recover the prosecution. So, in fact, it happened: after a year and a half of the process, the case returned from where it came and was finally terminated in June 2006.

There are no untouchables

Of course, in ten years of his work, judge Danilkin had a business and simpler. Ordinary judician routine: cases of theft, drug storage, about accident. “He makes not tough sentences, does not fry, the judge is humane. When you go to his office, offers to sit down, always politely replies that rather an exception for Moscow judges who like to tell the lawyers their place: “Come out and wait!” “This is rather the norm,” lawyers say about Danilkin.
“Normal judge, all within the framework of the law. But without courage, ”lawyer Sergei Brovchenko recalls his acquaintance with Danilkin. “Economic,” colleagues say about Danilkin. - He loves order, sometimes even removes the hall after the court session - he picks up pieces of paper from the floor, sets up chairs. He monitors flowers in the court room so that he does not inflate from the windows, he often waters. ”

Close Danilkina regret: the process in the Khodorkovsky case is daily stress, pulls all the juices. He saves a sense of humor: he often jokes, sometimes it allows the prosecutors’s malicious comments: for example, when the prosecutor Lachtin at one of the recent meetings noticed how difficult it was sometimes to investigate the Khodorkovsky and Lebedev, Danilkin smiled and said: “Do you want me to let me down a tear?”

They also say that recently it has been noticeably very nervous. Danilkin introvert, accumulates for a long time in himself, but he can break: then his eyes become prickly, intonation changes - his voice is already tall, and then it breaks into the folders. When he is comfortable, he speaks almost in a half -whisper. Another method of discharge (Danilkin is a person without bad habits: does not smoke and almost never drinks) - chairs in the meeting room. Once, putting them in place after the end of the court session, at which the prosecutors once again infuriated him, Danilkin pushed by a kick of those on which the state prosecutors sat. It is no coincidence that he has the corresponding hobby: he is an avid hunter and fisherman.

However, everyone with whom the New Times spoke was invariably emphasized by another thing: Victor Danilkin - the flesh from the flesh of what is called the modern judicial system of Russia. It’s just not the worst flesh: “They just do not appoint the chairmen of the court, which means that he complies with the rules, fulfills all the instructions, does not show excessive independence.” What does this mean to follow the rules? “You understand the rules almost immediately when you start working in court,” Elena Babelkova, former judge of the Basmanny Court, told The New Times. -In any more or less significant case, you consult with the chairman, and he is with the chairman of the Moscow City Court. And when you express your point of view, they tell you: think about yourself, about your family, about your child. And it is not rich: either you are doing what they say, or tomorrow you are not in court. It’s good if you have your own free will. ” * * Elena Labelkova worked in the Basmanny court for four years. She was entrusted with serious affairs: she made decisions on the arrest of Vasily Aleksanyan, Dmitry Dovgia, Sergey Storchak.

She sentenced to 11 and 12 years of the strict regime of two defendants in the Yukos case: Vladimir Pereverzin and Vladimir Malakhovsky. But in September 2009, the qualification collegium of judges of the city of Moscow ahead of schedule terminated the powers of the judge of Bollykova: she released the wrong court in the courtroom. Observers explain this “indicative flogging” by the desire to demonstrate that there are no untouchables for the judicial community: whatever the matter you conduct, if you want to fire, will be fired hard.

The matter of life

Why Danilkin, a 3rd class judge, was chosen from a host of Moscow judges for the new MBH process, is not known for certain. But it is known that judge Irina Kolesnikova, who chaired the first process in the Yukos case, went to increase: she moved from the Meshchansky court to the Moscow City Court. Her husband, as they say, was at the same time appointed chairman of one of the district courts of the capital. So there are prospects. They can be transferred to the Moscow City Court, where the salary is higher, and there are less routes, and there, who knows, may light the Supreme Court.

As they say in judges, it is impossible to refuse to conduct the process of the process: it is not accepted, and the punishment is fast - it is easy to lose work. And yet why did Danilkin choose? There are several opinions on this score. Firstly, the boorish court in good account, in the sense that his sentences are rarely canceled by higher authorities, and Danilkin himself is known as a competent lawyer. Secondly, there is no corruption trace behind him. Thirdly, the chairman of the district court is easier to control from above: they said-did, without any gear ratings along the way.

However, our system is such that it never forgets to indicate to the judge that his mantle is for the accused. For example, last summer, the son of Viktor Danilkin was going to enter the Russian Legal Academy of the Ministry of Justice, had the recommendation of the Supreme Court. I did not do it. But to the question, what about the recommendation from the Supreme Court of the Supreme Court, Danilkin, as knowledgeable people say, threw in response: “Think, we have everything here with such pieces of paper.” In other words, they made it clear: even if you are in a loud process, and the press writes about you, but for us you are just the chairman of the district court.

Judge for Strasbourg

The defenders of Khodorkovsky and Lebedev, comparing the current process with the first thing that was in the philistine court, * * The process in the first case of Khodorkovsky and Lebedev lasted almost a year in the Meshchansky court and ended for both defendants for 9 years in prison. On September 22, 2005, the Moscow City Court reduced their punishment to 8 years. They talk about a qualitatively different atmosphere. “In the philistine court, I had to ask the judge to the toilet every time, she did not allow lawyers to leave the hall, limited the questions of questions,” lawyer Yuri Schmidt told The New Times. Not right now.

“Witnesses ceased to be afraid to come to the process, as it was in the first case,” says lawyer Konstantin Rivkin. -Judge Danilkin agreed to introduce to the case part of the documents that we consider significant, and even he himself demanded some documents at the request of protection. From the point of view of publicity and openness, this process is radically different from the first. ”

At the same time, the defenders of the defendants have repeatedly declared the Dishades to the judge, believing that he violated the law. They were also outraged by the fact that he refused to listen to seven of eight experts of the highest level, whom the defense brought to court: Danilkin, following prosecutors, recognized them incompetent. “It is strange,” the defenders say, “on the one hand, they seem to focus on Strasbourg, giving the process the appearance of democracy and publicity, but in the Eurosudic they will not understand how to refuse the interrogation of specialists given by protection?” However, something else is said: Danilkin tries to stay within the framework of the procedural law: for example, two dates per month are laid down - does not refuse, while others refused. “From the point of view of those who chose Viktor Nikolayevich for this case, the choice is very successful,” says Khodorkovsky’s lawyer Vadim Livgan. Some sources of The New Times have no doubt that “Danilkin consults on all important issues for the process. And most likely, not by phone, but "on a computer." Others, on the contrary, believe that when the time comes to Danilkin to pass the sentence, he will either receive an order from the first persons, or they will not give him any instructions - exactly so that they can be manipulated. “But he himself knows where the red line is,” says the interlocutor. "And - where is she?" “The thief must sit in prison, even if he is not a thief and did not steal anything from anyone.”
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It’s just that the chairmen of the court is not appointed, which means that he complies with the rules, fulfills all the instructions, does not show excessive independence

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Patience at the end

In the last week of meetings before Danilkin’s debate, it was as if replaced.

“How much can you mock the court? You are pulling time! You abuse the right! I no longer know how to respond to you, and by the end of the process I can’t choose words, ”the judge literally shouted at the prosecutor Lakhtin, who artificially drawn the process, then calling witnesses, then exhausting Khodorkovsky with the same questions.

What caused such a sharp broken? The stubbornness of prosecutors or irritation of the authorities? Shortly before this breakdown, the chairman of the Moscow City Court, Olga Egorova, in an interview with Ehu Moscow, publicly scolded Danilkin for the fact that the case was "mummy for a year and seven months." * * 09/13/2010 Olga Egorova, in particular, said the Radio of the Echo of Moscow, that let the judge pass an acquittal, any sentence, would rather finish. "

Apparently, Danilkin decided that he had to finish the process. And for him, as for a person who loves comfort, annoying, when something goes not according to a pre-appointed plan, the red tape of the prosecutor Lachtin became unbearable. He sighed, looked at his watch, took off and put on glasses, which is a sign of excitement for him. And even, perhaps, the second or third time in a year and a half, hit the judicial debris with a judicial hammer on the table.

Judicial arithmetic

When the prosecutors and lawyers dissuade, the defendants will say their last word, judge Viktor Nikolaevich Danilkin will be in his cozy deliberative room one on one under the portraits of President Dmitry Medvedev and the chairman of the Supreme Court Vyacheslav Lebedev. “He must make a choice that can change his entire subsequent life,” says lawyer Pavel Ivlev. - Either enter the logic of the system: to rewrite the text of the indictment into the verdict, remaining in history a “cog”, which guarantees official growth and judicial retirement content. Or, having spit on all this, to bear the acquittal and go down in history so that everyone remembers. ”

Lawyers believe that Judge Danilkin perfectly understands the essence of the matter, sees all the absurdity of the new prosecution that contradicts the first case, knows about complaints in the Strasbourg court: one of them will be announced in early 2011, and most likely not in favor of the Russian Federation. And in line and other complaints, two of them are already recognized as acceptable.

Judge Danilkin in the deliberative room where he will write the verdict (he will take him, from two weeks to a month), he will have to engage in complex arithmetic. There are several options: he can send the case to the prosecutor to “eliminate significant violations” - this, in fact, will mean the termination of the case, can pass a conviction with a long term - up to 10 years in prison or with a small one - up to 5 years. Or give very little so as not to go beyond the terms that the defendants gave the previous courts. Then, taking into account all tests-re-registers, Plato Lebedev will be released in July, and Mikhail Khodorkovsky in October 2011.

Choice

What would be an acquittal of the Yukos case? Heroism, the act of a person who does not care, what moral and reputational inheritance he leaves to his children? Dina Kaminskaya, the famous defender, who took the business of Soviet dissidents, in her book “Notes of a Lawyer” spoke about the judge of the Supreme Court of the RSFSR Nikolai Petukhov, who in 1969 after two convictions in the loud “Peredelkino boys' case” went against the system and still justified two teenagers. This process was not political, but was under control in the Central Committee of the CPSU. “What a blessing when justice is the judge! With a sober mind and a genuine desire to understand the case, ”Dina Kaminskaya wrote about the judge of Petukhov. Will they write this about judge Danilkin?

Chronicle of the final
On October 14, the debate began in the Khamovniki court. According to preliminary information, state prosecutors will speak four days. And then they will be called the deadlines, to which they will ask the court to say the defendants. The state prosecutors have already stated that under Art. 174 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“legalization of funds”) will ask for a shorter term taking into account the presidential amendments to the articles of the Criminal Code on economic crimes. On October 20, there will be a turn of lawyers who will ask the judge for the preparation time-one or two days. Their performances can begin on October 25 and last two to three days. Further - replicas of prosecutors and lawyers, this is another day. Then - the last word of the defendants. October 29 - November 1, the judge may announce the date of the sentence and will be able to be deleted in the deliberation room. On November 17, the term of detention of Khodorkovsky and Lebedev will expire. Judge Danilkin will no longer renew the preventive measure. Writing the verdict will take him from two weeks to a month. The decision in the second “Yukos case” can be made in December.