Translated material
The Bar Association of the Leningrad Region did not hold the defender of journalist Safronov accountable
The Qualification Commission of the Leningrad Region Bar Chamber did not bring Evgeniy Smirnov, the defense attorney in the case of journalist Ivan Safronov, to disciplinary liability. This was reported by the human rights project “First Department”.
The commission did not find any violations in the lawyer’s actions. The Ministry of Justice asked to bring him to justice based on a complaint from the FSB investigative department. The department reported to the Ministry of Justice that Smirnov skipped investigative actions six times without good reason in the cases of two of his clients: Safronov and physicist Viktor Kudryavtsev, who is also accused of treason.
The chamber considered that the failure of one lawyer to appear in agreement with the client and other lawyers is not a violation.
“ I am grateful to the qualification commission for its wise and legal decision. The Leningrad Region Bar Association has once again demonstrated its commitment to the principles of the legal profession, the law and its independence ,” commented Smirnov.
The St. Petersburg Bar Association is processing materials on the case of another lawyer of Safronov, Ivan Pavlov. Pavlov wrote in his Telegram channel that the qualification commission of the chamber noted that he “allegedly... did not notify the investigator of his failure to appear” for investigative actions. The lawyer emphasizes that this is not true, and also that the qualification commission has already considered this episode in response to the previous submission and found him not guilty.
- Evgeny Smirnov is a former member of the human rights project “Team 29”. On July 16, 2021, Roskomnadzor blocked the project website. The explanatory note stated that the site contained certain materials from the organization Společnost Svobody Informace, registered in the Czech Republic and recognized as undesirable in Russia. Two days later, Team 29 announced its closure. In November, lawyer Smirnov left Russia.
- In September 2021, another lawyer of Safronov, Ivan Pavlov, left Russia after a case was opened against him for disclosing preliminary investigation data (Article 310 of the Criminal Code). According to the security forces, Pavlov, without the consent of the investigator, handed over to Vedomosti journalists a copy of the resolution to bring his client, former journalist Ivan Safronov, as a defendant in the case of high treason. On October 28, the lawyerwas put on the wanted list , and on November 8, he was recognized as a foreign agent.
- Ivan Safronov has been in pre-trial detention since July 2020. He is charged with treason (Article 275 of the Criminal Code). According to the prosecution, he transferred information abroad about military-technical cooperation between Russia and African countries, as well as information about the activities of the armed forces in the Middle East region. The investigation believes that the journalist was recruited by the Czech intelligence services, however, according to Safronov’s defense, no evidence of this has yet been provided. The persecution of Safronov is associated with his journalistic activities - he was covering the work of the military-industrial complex.