“The authorities very successfully scammed everyone”

On November 16, lawyers Mark Feigin, Violetta Volkova and Nikolai Polozov received letters from Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina asking them not to represent them anymore.

When they say that the lawyers Feygin, Volkova and Polozov “put their clients in jail”, which is why they now refuse their services, this means that the authorities very successfully “divorced” everyone, making the lawyers extreme. How, tell me, can the actions of lawyers cause a wrongful judgment? This case did not require depth, because the very structure of the charges did not correspond to the actions of the defendants: they contained an administrative offense, not a criminal one. Lawyers are now reproached: they should not have got into politics. Let's be specific. The position of the defense was that the action was against the merger of Church and State. It was necessary to refute the accusation that the songs and dances in the temple were staged to incite hatred for the Orthodox faith, the lawyers had to prove that the reason was completely different, that the action was political.

When the case is ordered and the government presses, our courts lose the remnants of independence. And this is obviously a politically ordered case, in such cases decisions in court are made not on the basis of the law, but to please the authorities or public opinion. For example, the Mirzaev case is a disgrace to justice. The matter is simple, like a planed match, and is decided by the conclusion of an examination. The prosecutor's office raises the question of retraining, because the examination concludes that the death did not come from a blow: the victim did not suffer serious injuries from the blow. This is a classic example of careless killing, which is described in all textbooks. And the judge appoints the fourth, fifth examination, pulls, just so as not to pass a sentence ...

„

When the case is ordered and the government presses, our courts lose the remnants of independence. And this is obviously a political order

”

Unprofessionalism is on the rise. The fact that the judges, after the cassation hearing of the complaint in the case of Pussy Riot, went to a press conference suggests that they are also involved in a political PR campaign. Judges should not explain at all why they made this or that decision - all reasons should be in the verdict. By law, they have the right to explain their decision if the parties so require, and even then only in civil proceedings. And here the authorities outplayed everyone, shifting responsibility to lawyers. The idea is taking root in public opinion that lawyers in the process should not have pursued a political line.