Lawyers for terrorists from Crocus City Hall made an unexpected request: threats poured in

Although they could not refuse their clients

Appointed lawyers defending those accused of committing a terrorist attack in Crocus City Hall are receiving threats. They are required to refuse to participate in the process. Otherwise, they threaten to “cut off their ears” and deal with them and their families in other terrible ways. The situation is so serious that it requires the intervention of law enforcement officers. Was it possible to predict this?

The monstrous terrorist attack at Crocus caused enormous outrage in society. But this, as the legendary lawyer Henry Resnik put it, is a test of legal culture. Will we get through it? Perhaps this is one of the main challenges of our time.

All those accused in the terrorist attack case were placed in the Lefortovo pre-trial detention center. And even in the corridors of the detention center (more precisely, in the room where lawyers are waiting for their turn) there are noisy discussions about participation in this case. Surprisingly, among people with a lawyer’s license there are those who believe that they should have refused to defend terrorists. The trick is that this is essentially impossible.

I’ll explain the situation. When the “order” comes for the defense of the accused, only the last name is indicated there. Next to her, they don’t write a certificate in the spirit of “this is the same scoundrel who killed hundreds of people.” Until recently, no one knew the names of the suspects in the terrible terrorist attack at Crocus. And now the free lawyer presses the button, accepting the “application”. That’s it, from now on he can’t refuse. And even if he could, someone else would still have to do it. Law is law. Without the participation of a lawyer (if the accused himself has not refused it), neither investigative actions nor the trial are possible.

A lawyer for someone accused of a crime is often confused with an accomplice. Some treat him as the one who brought the cartridges and helped cut. Others – as to someone who did not participate himself, but justifies and approves. For people who have at least some knowledge of the law, such fabrications sound wild. But how many are there who don’t understand anything at all about jurisprudence?! “Defending a pedophile? That means you are the same!” “Are you a serial killer’s lawyer? Yes, you yourself are a hidden maniac, it turns out.” Lawyers receive such insults regularly. And not only here, but all over the world.

“Lawyers should not be identified with their clients and clients’ affairs in connection with the performance of their professional duties.” This is a quote from a document entitled “Framework on the Role of Lawyers” adopted by the Eighth UN Congress on Crime Prevention in 1990.

“The monstrous crime electrified people,” says Henry Reznik. – But this is a test of legal culture. Law is universal. Protection is provided to suspects of any crime. Both the presumption of innocence and the standard of protection apply to everyone without exception. We see an undeniable range of statements regarding the lawyers of persons suspected of terrorist attacks, but those who do not think about the principles of justice (and they must be respected in all cases) predominate. Let me remind you of the historical process – the assassination of Robert Kennedy, the brother of the US President. It was committed by the anti-Semite Serhan Bishar. He killed Robert Kennedy precisely because he supported the state of Israel. And so the case was assigned to the famous lawyer Denis Berman. He could have refused the process, but did not. And he met misunderstanding, first of all, from his fellow Jews. “How could you take the defense of an anti-Semite who simply calls for the extermination of the Jews.” Do you know what Berman answered? He replied: “I’m not defending my beliefs. I defend his rights.”

Unlike Berman, I repeat, terrorist lawyers did not have the right to refuse clients without risking losing their lawyer status. Moreover, if all the lawyers refused to defend these people at once, the trial itself might not take place, and it promises to be one of the loudest in the history of modern Russia. Lawyers are needed, among other things, so that no one will later say that the trial was wrong and unfair. In the case of terrorists, Themis must be extremely harsh and honest.

Published in the newspaper “Moskovsky Komsomolets” No. 29244 dated March 27, 2024

Newspaper headline:
Don’t shoot a lawyer: he defends as best he can