Lawyer stripped of status for posts on Telegram – Picture of the Day – Kommersant

The Council of the Chamber of Lawyers of the Krasnodar Territory terminated the status of lawyer Mikhail Benyash (included in the register of foreign agents). Earlier, the Ministry of Justice accused him of violating professional ethics due to critical statements addressed to the state authorities, the department itself, as well as the leadership of the bar. Officials found seven, in their opinion, offensive publications in the lawyer’s Telegram channel. Colleagues in the chamber agreed with the claims to two posts. Mikhail Benyash himself explained that in social networks he “jokes, consoles, gives hope and heals people from fear.”

The well-known Krasnodar lawyer Mikhail Benyash received a disciplinary sanction in the form of termination of his status, he will be able to return to the profession only after three years. The Council of the Bar Association of the Krasnodar Territory (APKK) made such a decision after considering the claims of the regional department of the Ministry of Justice. As the publication writes “Lawyer Street”in December 2022, the department complained to the chamber about seven publications in the Telegram channel of Mr. Benyash.

According to officials, the lawyer published “negative statements about the judicial system”, expressed “judgments containing a negative character about the actions of the Russian Ministry of Justice.”

In addition, he made “a number of assessments that undermine the authority and trust in the institution of the legal profession” and even made “analogies of the Nazi regime, as well as Hitler and the President of the Russian Federation.” All this violates the professional Code of Ethics, which is mandatory for lawyers, the department said.

At the end of January, the claims of the Ministry of Justice were considered by the chamber’s qualification commission. Its members found violations in two of the seven publications. The first post was posted on October 6, 2022 as a response to a post by political scientist Abbas Gallyamov (identified as a foreign agent). He reproached the Russian opposition for criticizing the insufficiently protesting advocacy.

Mikhail Benyash said that Mr. Gallyamov is not well aware of the situation in the Russian legal profession, which, according to the lawyer, is in a deep crisis. As an illustration, Mr. Benyash referred to “portraits of Stalin in the offices” and called the leadership of the bar associations “servile opportunists” unaccountable to the professional community.

The second post was posted on October 31: Mikhail Benyash responded to the decision of the Ministry of Justice to recognize him as a foreign agent. The lawyer disagreed, saying he did not receive foreign funding. “We will sue the Ministry of Justice. This is a matter of ritual. Do not catch up, so keep warm. Troll at the same time, ”the lawyer wrote, adding a few more harsh expressions to the officials.

Mikhail Benyash himself claimed that the outrageous form of some of his messages was not intended to offend anyone, but was only an expressive means of speech.

“Russian speech is very beautiful, bright and colorful. If you know how to use Russian speech, you can convince and inspire people. That’s exactly what I do. At work, I urge trial judges not to do the evil that we so often see in the courts. In my free time, I joke, console, give hope, and with all my work I heal people from fear. This is fine. This is adequate. And this is very important,” wrote Mikhail Benyash in his response to the submission of the Ministry of Justice.

Today, the Council of the APKC came to the conclusion that there are violations of the Rules of Conduct for Lawyers on the Internet, approved in 2016 by the Federal Chamber of Lawyers, in the actions of Mikhail Benyash. According to the document, when communicating online, a lawyer must show “restraint characteristic of the profession”, caution and correctness, behave respectfully and avoid offensive behavior.

APCC could not be reached for comment. In the reception room of the president of the chamber, Svetlana Vasilyeva, they referred to the fact that she was busy. Mikhail Benyash told Kommersant that he intends to challenge the decision of the council of the chamber.

Mr. Benyash is known for his work in protecting civil society activists. In 2018 his accused in an attack on policemen, this happened shortly before an opposition rally in Krasnodar. Litigation in this case is still not finished.

Anna Perova, Krasnodar