Judge Swamp

Natalia Nikishina and the case of "riots"

All of July in the Moscow City Court will continue the hearing in the case of the so -called "riots" on Bolotnaya Square in Moscow on May 6, 2012. The process is chaired by the head of the Zamoskvoretsky District Court of Moscow Natalia Nikishina. What matters did the judge conducted, who will decide the fate of 12 prisoners of Bolotnaya, what sentences were sentenced and what she is known in the professional community - The New Times asked her colleagues, lawyers and experts

Dark-car hair, a haircut-a neat square, dark eyebrows with a house, a slightly cheeky face, a look with a squint, a straight back is the chairman of the Zamoskvoretsky district court of Moscow 45-year-old Natalya Nikishina, a little rustling long, in the floor, black mantle, not in a hurry, majestically enters the hall of the court session of the Moscow City Court. She straightens the white collar, sits in one of the three high chairs exactly under the coat of arms of the Russian Federation and announces the court session open.

The teacher

“We check the yavochka,” she says in the microphone, addressing the participants in the process, calling the surname of the accused from memory.

Twelve defendants: ten* in custody-they are in a “aquarium” cage; Two, Maria Baronova and Alexander Dukhanin (the first of the subscription about the lower room, the second has a house arrest), are sitting at the table with their defenders. Plus, a dozen lawyers, three state prosecutors, bailiffs, convoy, one Rottweiler, relatives of the defendants with bouquets of flowers, journalists, sympathetic - the hall is full.

Ten defendants in the glass "Aquarium", where Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev sat during the cassation in the second case of Yukos

Ten prisoners are sitting in a cage, closely pressed against each other, in two rows on uncomfortable wooden shops: those who are sitting in the back row, at least have the opportunity to lean their backs on the wall, the same in the front row, are forced to bent over for hours. In the Aquarium there are side slots and two slots in the center: there is air through them. And this air is non -armed and hot: the air conditioner drowses the voices, and therefore the air conditioner is turned off, and then there is nothing to breathe in the glass cage.

In the breaks between the court hearings, the Aquarium lies a queue from lawyers who want to talk with their clients

“The convoy drives us away from the cage, lawyers stand near two narrow slits, waiting for their turn to talk with their clients,” lawyer Dmitry Agranovsky, who defended Vladimir Akimenkov and Yaroslav Belousov, is indignant. -We asked the judge to somehow influence the convoy. She politely listened to us, smiled, said that she was not commanding a convoy. Although the judge, presiding on the process, is obliged to provide full -focused protection of the defendants. In addition, she stated that she would not allow the defendants a date with relatives until they give testimony in the process. Why? “I will not allow, because it is so accepted for me,” there was an answer. Even investigators gave dates with relatives. But Nikishina decided to reflect our clients. ”

Journalists who did not have enough space in the hall monitor the broadcasting process in the corridor of the court

Nikishin is raising not only the accused. With all the participants in the process, she speaks strictly, as a primary school teacher speaks with negligent students. “Crooked,” Judge Nikishin turns to one of the defendants, “why is your lawyer late? Where did you find such an undisciplined defender? "

Or reports the stuttering Artem Savelov when he says that he does not understand the accusation: “What objectively in a pre -trial detention center prevents you from familiarizing yourself with the indictment?”

When lawyers once again ask her to pay attention to the torture conditions in the Aquarium cage, transfer the defendants to another hall or transplant them to a large jury bench, Judge Nikishin answers with an almost flirty voice: “Your statements are not petitions. You delay the process. When designing the halls of the Moscow City Court, sanitary standards were taken into account, so there is nothing to talk about here. ”

Lawyer Farit Murtazin is trying to hear what his client Savelov says

She calmly lets all lawyers and defendants speak, and then, in the same soft voice, refuses all petitions. Steel in her voice appears only when the audience in the hall begins to applaud in response to the performances of the defendants. “The man jumped up, leave the courtroom! And don't come back! " She orders in a loud voice. Or expelled from the hall the mother of Nikolai Caucasian, who, together with others, applauds his son when he reads his next statement from the cage. “So far, everything that happens in the process is very reminiscent of a school lesson,” the defendant Masha Baronova notes the author. “But we are not at school lesson.” And they will not set us marks, but they will give time. ”

Relatives and friends of the "Prisoners of Bolotnaya" come to the process with flowers	The wife of Alexei Polikhovich Tanya comes to trial to “talk” with her husband through his eyes

The path is upstairs

Judge Natalya Viktorovna Nikishina, whose life now, to the extent to the extent of the next six months, will pass under the sign of the “swamp business”, previously did not conduct such resonant processes. Her career is quite common for the Moscow judge. In 1992 she graduated from the prestigious metropolitan law institute (Vyuzi), and after five years she was appointed judge of the Timiryazevsky District Court of Moscow. In the interval, as they say, she worked as a bailiff (in the nineties they played the role of bailiffs), however, in the official biography of this, for some reason, not a word.

In 2004, the chairman of the Moscow City Court Olga Egorova invited Nikishin to the cassation instance of the city court: here she served seven years, headed the three judges considering cassation complaints. And on May 28, 2011 was appointed to the post of chairman of the Zamoskvoretsky district court.

The New Times interviewed more than a dozen metropolitan lawyers to find out their opinion about Judge Nikishina. Standard answer: “I remember, there was such a (judge) on cassation in the Moscow City Court. But I can’t say nothing bad or good. A competent judge, correct. "

Whether Judge Nikishin had ever been exciting sentences in the Timiryazevsky court, it is not known for certain, in the Zamoskvoretsky court-definitely not.

The lawyer Natalya Andreeva remembered how Natalya Nikishina was still in the Timiryazevsky court. “It was probably in 2003,” said the defender of The New Times. - The case of robbery, now I don’t remember all the details, but I remember that the process was nervous and Judge Nikishin, as it seemed to me, was configured for a conviction. She, as I recall, was disrespectful of lawyers, I was going to tell her a divert, but then, thank God, the case was sent to another judge, and my client received a conditional term. ”

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 *With all the participants in the process, Judge Nikishin speaks strictly, as a primary school teacher speaks with a negligent student*

”The interlocutors say: the place of the chairman of the court Nikishina went for loyalty - she is considered the favorite of the chairman of the Moscow City Court Egorova. The ill -wishers believe that Nikishina adopted from the boss and the authoritarian style of behavior in court:“ Both in the trials, and in communication with subordinates, Nikishina often behaves, as the queen, can be scolded, ”shared with the The New Times on the terms of anonymity, however, other lawyers, such as Ekaterina Smirnov’s lawyer, believe that Judge Nikishin is worthy of his place and position in the Moscow judicial system: “I remember how Nikishin only took office in the Zamoskvoretsky court It seemed to her very importantly how work in court will be organized, she delved into everything, the lawyer Alexander Baturov agrees with this assessment: Natalya Nikishina, he assures, showed himself in the Moscow City Court as a good organizer, and in the Zamoskvoretsky court it was just necessary to restore order. The fact is that in the territory subordinate to the Zamoskvoretsky court there are several large insurance companies such as Ingosstrakh, Rosno, and in addition, the Federal Penitentiary Service of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, the FMS of the Russian Federation. And the court was literally littered with the cases: there are thousands of cases for accidents, and recovery of insurance compensation, and complaints from prisoners from all regions of Russia to the prison department, and the resentment of migrants to migration services. And all this - for 10 judges: four consider criminal cases, six - civilians. For comparison: there are 12 judges in the staff of the Basmanny Court.

They say that in 2010, when Judge Igor Sheremetyev, who wanted to sit in his chair, was resigned from the post of chairman of the Zamosvoretsky court.

Judge for a special order

Natalia Nikishina in the Zamoskvoretsky court is engaged in not only administrative work, but also considers criminal cases. Most often in a special order. So do many chairmen of district courts. A special procedure for legal proceedings assumes that the defendant pleads his guilt, the process takes place without researching evidence, without witnesses and, as a rule, in one or two days.

“I participated several times as an appointment lawyer in such processes when the case was considered in a simplified manner. I can say that Nikishin is a very attentive judge, ”Smirnova’s lawyer told The New Times. - Before the meeting, she properly studies the case. The punishment in such processes largely depends on the materials regarding the personality of the defendant, and on the issues that Nikishin asked my client, it was clear that she approached the case informally. There were cases on which she set a conditional term and after the sentence told the defendant, which gives him a chance to correction and that should thoroughly reconsider his views on life. ”

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 *In the judicial circles, they say that Nikishina wanted to refuse to conduct the process and asked to "rid her of this burden"*

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In a special order, Judge Nikishin considers cases of drug storage, theft of cars, theft, and robbery.

“All sentences are non -standard for Nikishina. Here, for example, according to the “drug”, under article 228, part 1,* If the accused pleads guilty, she sentences to correctional labor conditionally for six months or more, ”lawyer Sergei Teterin told The New Times. - This is not prohibited by law, but you rarely meet this. In general, it gives a short time if a person repented of his deed. ”

Office duty

Judge Natalya Nikishina will have to understand the "Swamp case" for six months

Twelve defendants in the “swamp business”, as you know, do not admit their guilt, and Judge Nikishina will have to consider this case for a long time and in detail: the verdict is expected no earlier than December 2013. In the judicial circles, they say that Nikishina wanted to refuse to conduct the process and supposedly even asked the chairman of the Moscow City Court Olga Egorova "to save her from this burden."

Why? I was afraid that she could not cope? After all, it is one thing when the defendants plead guilty, and a completely different matter is almost in the daily mode to “sit” in the political process.

As they say, Olga Egorova answered harshly to the petition of her favorite: either dismiss or do what they say. “Events on Bolotnaya Square occurred in the territory attributed to the Zamoskvoretsky court,” lawyer Alexei Miroshnichenko explained The New Times. - And besides Nikishina, in this court

There is no one else to consider such a thing. There are only aunts, there is not even a normal man there. ”**

The retired judge Sergei Pashin says that Judge Nikishina had no chance to avoid the political process. “The judge can take a self-expression if there is some kind of conflict of interest, for example, if he is a relative of one of the defendants or he is familiar with one of the witnesses,” commented on the situation for The New Times Sergey Pashin. “If the chairman of the Moscow City Court wants Nikishin to consider this case, she will have to consider it. Otherwise, it will be disobedience and can have a bad effect on the career of the judge. Judges do not like to take political cases, but the chairman of the court should show an example to other judges. ”

However, many lawyers surveyed by The New Times believe that in the political process the personality of a particular judge does not play a role, because the decision will not be made in the advisory room with a specific judge, but will be launched from above or, at least, agreed with the head of the Moscow City Court.

Judicial secret

About the personal life of Judge Nikishina, her interests, attachments - that is, that allows an idea of ​​the human qualities of the chairman of the Zamoskvoretsky court is not known in an even account. Well, perhaps they say that she has an adult daughter, and in her clothes she prefers cold severity - avoids bright colors. However, it turned out to be a problem to find information that seems to be publicly accessible. When preparing the article by The New Times, he sent a request to the Zamoskvoretsky court: in order to first -hand to confirm or refute the biographical data of judges Nikishina, which are published on the website of the Russian Agency for Legal and Judicial Information. As well as gaps in the biography: nothing is known, for example, where Mrs. Nikishina worked five years after graduation from the university and before the appointment of it by the judge of the Timiryazevsky district court of Moscow. Finally, unlike other leaders of the Moscow district courts, Natalia Nikishina keeps his secret in the secret: the law does not require this information, but in the judicial circles this has recently been considered a good tone.

The response to the request of the magazine was, if not a hidden threat, then a rebuke: “ / ... / preparation of any materials in relation to the penalty in the criminal case causing increased attention from various segments of the population, may negatively affect the course of the trial, since the impression of the existence of some circumstances may be created that the judge personally, directly or indirectly, is interested in the outcome This criminal case, and by virtue of the provisions of the Law of the Russian Federation “On the status of judges in the Russian Federation”, the judge in the execution of his powers, as well as in extra -budget relations, should avoid everything that could diminish the authority of the judiciary, the dignity of the judge or to doubt his objectivity, justice and impartiality. Paying attention to the provisions of the Federal Law “On Information, Information Technologies and the Protection of Information”, by virtue of which it is forbidden to demand from a citizen to provide information about his private life, including information constituting personal or family secrets, and to receive such information besides the will of the citizen, I hope for understanding and I see no obstacles to discuss your issue after considering the criminal case in my proceeding ”.

The New Times turned to specialists: is there really something contrary to the law in our written request? The answer was unambiguous: this is not only the right, but also the obligation of the media to acquaint fellow citizens with socially significant information, and everything related to the judge, presiding in the resonance political process, is beyond any doubt, is of interest to society.

Photos: Evgeny Feldman/New Gazeta

Illustration: Taya Strizhakova