The Federal Chamber of Lawyers asks not to identify terrorists with lawyers

The Federal Chamber of Lawyers (FBA) issued a statement in connection with some public assessments of the work of lawyers in the case of the terrorist attack in Crocus City Hall. Earlier, human rights activist Eva Merkacheva reported that unknown persons were threatening lawyers who were appointed to represent suspects in court. The Chamber of Lawyers emphasized that it had not yet received complaints from colleagues, but acknowledged the fact of “targeted statements” about the inadmissibility of legal protection for terrorists. The chamber reminds that the right to qualified legal assistance is guaranteed by the Constitution, and without the participation of a lawyer, “not a single court decision can be considered an act of fair justice.”

The Chamber of Lawyers issued a statement “in connection with publications in the media about incoming threats against lawyers assigned to defend those accused of committing a terrorist attack in Crocus City Hall.” A day earlier, a member of the Presidential Council for Human Rights and MK columnist Eva Merkacheva said that the lawyers of those accused of the terrorist attack began to receive threats: according to her, unknown persons demanded that the defenders refuse to participate in the case, threatening to deal with them and their loved ones. Comments with similar content can be found on social networks.

Let us remind you that earlier a video was distributed in a number of Telegram channels, from which one can conclude that torture was used against suspects during their detention. On March 26, Commissioner for Human Rights Tatyana Moskalkova declared the inadmissibility of torture: “Any procedural operational actions must be carried out in accordance with the law.”

“Unfortunately, targeted statements were made that it is impossible to defend terrorists,” says the address of FPA President Svetlana Volodina. “I think that people said this out of grief, out of despair and out of misunderstanding of the role of a lawyer in the process. There must be a defense attorney in every criminal case, no matter what serious crime the person is accused of. The point is that the law is followed. Trials must take place in conditions of competition between the parties – the prosecution and the defense. It is then that confidence in the proof of the accusation appears.”

The FPA press service added that they have not yet received any statements from lawyers about threats and information pressure.

“It is unacceptable to associate a lawyer with his client and with the justification of the acts committed by him,” Mikhail Tolcheev, first vice-president of the FPA, emphasized in an interview with Kommersant. “The law connects the possibility of conducting investigative and procedural actions with the mandatory observance of the constitutional right to qualified legal assistance. Without this, not a single court decision, no matter how correct it may seem, can be considered an act of fair justice. Therefore, our colleagues who participate in this process should be treated like all other lawyers. They perform the function assigned to them by the Constitution and the law – they provide qualified legal assistance.”

Ms. Merkacheva explained to Kommersant that the threats against the suspects’ defenders, the negative attitude towards them and rude demands to “find ways to abandon this case” were told to her by fellow lawyers participating in the trial.

Eva Merkacheva believes that people do not understand the peculiarities of the work of a lawyer by appointment: “They do not know that the so-called assignment comes, which is taken by the first free lawyer. And he himself doesn’t know who he’s taking—the article is not indicated there, there are no notes there. And when the lawyer has already taken the case, he cannot refuse – for this he will face disciplinary action. A person may lose his or her lawyer status.”

“Our Constitution provides free assistance to anyone accused of a criminal offense. And in this case, lawyers are actually appointed – in fact, they are given the responsibility to represent the person in court. And here it really doesn’t matter whether the lawyer wants or doesn’t want to take on a specific case. It was his turn, he was given this person, and then he represents him,” lawyer Marina Agaltsova confirmed to Kommersant.

Let us note that in the history of modern Russia there was a precedent when appointed lawyers refused to defend those accused of terrorism. Thus, all North Ossetian lawyers who were appointed to defend the school invaders in Beslan (2004) withdrew from the process. After this, I had to look for assigned lawyers in other regions of Russia.

Emilia Gabdullina