Translated material
Disciplinary proceedings initiated against lawyer Ivan Safronov based on FSB complaint
The Leningrad Region Bar Association, on the recommendation of the regional department of the Ministry of Justice, has initiated disciplinary proceedings against lawyer Yevgeny Smirnov, who is defending journalist Ivan Safronov , who has been accused of treason. This was reported by the Interfax agency, which has reviewed the text of the recommendation.
The FSB Investigative Department initiated the proceedings, having contacted the Ministry of Justice. The special service stated that Smirnov had missed investigative actions in the Safronov case and in the case of another of his clients, physicist Viktor Kudryavtsev, six times without good reason.
In turn, the Ministry of Justice asked the Bar Association to consider the motion to initiate disciplinary proceedings, but did not mention the measure of liability for the lawyer. The consideration of the proceedings against Smirnov is scheduled by the qualification commission of the Bar Association for December 20.
Smirnov called the Justice Ministry's actions pressure on Safronov's defense. According to the lawyer, the investigation is trying "by any means necessary to leave Ivan without defense, and society without a source of information about the case."
"The Justice Ministry's submission <…> does not contain any legal basis, and its meaning boils down to the fact that all lawyers are required to march in formation to every investigative action, regardless of the defense strategy and the opinion of our client. At the same time, not a single investigative action was disrupted due to the fault of lawyers, while their cancellation at the initiative of the investigation at the very last minute has become commonplace," the defense attorney said.
- Previously, the Ministry of Justice sought to bring Yevgeny Smirnov to disciplinary responsibility for refusing to sign a non-disclosure agreement regarding the investigation secrets in the Ivan Safronov case.
- A criminal case has been opened against another lawyer of the journalist, Ivan Pavlov , for disclosing preliminary investigation data. It was opened because the lawyer disclosed details of the Safronov case to the media. Before that, Pavlov had been twice subjected to disciplinary action through the St. Petersburg Bar Association. As a result, the lawyer left Russia.
- Evgeny Smirnov and Ivan Pavlov are former members of Team 29, a lawyers' association that specialized in defending those accused of treason. In July, Team 29 decided to self-liquidate after the organization's website was blocked at the request of the Prosecutor General's Office. In early November, Pavlov and four other former members of Team 29 were declared "foreign agents."