It wasn’t enough to imprison, and ultimately to kill, Alexei Navalny. Now they’ve gone after his attorneys as well, in a blatant case of “guilt by association.”

In the United States, as in all or most democracies throughout the world, a person accused of a crime is entitled to legal counsel. And the lawyer who accepts representation of a client can be comfortable in the knowledge that, even if his client is found guilty, he (the lawyer) will not be implicated in the crime simply by reason of his professional association with the guilty party.

It’s just logical.

But not in Russia.

On Thursday, three lawyers who had once represented the famed (and now deceased) dissident Alexei Navalny were brought to trial — having been arrested nearly a year ago, in October 2023 — on charges of involvement with “extremist groups,” as Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation had been labeled. They were accused of passing information from Navalny to his team while he was locked away in prison. [Associated Press, September 12, 2024.]

During his incarceration, Navalny was kept in solitary confinement, his only permitted visitors being his lawyers. They were the sole conduit between him and his family and friends — the only way he could let the outside world know that he was still alive and fighting. It was part of his attorneys’ job to “pass information” on his behalf.

Two other former lawyers for Navalny — Olga Mikhailova and Aleksandr Fedulov — have been placed in absentia on a wanted list, also accused of extremism. Both now live outside of Russia. [Id.]

But this is just the quickest and easiest way for the Russian government to discourage lawyers from accepting representation of those charged with political crimes. These three — Sergunin, Liptser and Kobzev — each face up to six years in prison; and conviction is virtually a certainty, as in all such cases. The trial is being held, as always, behind closed doors . . . in the town of Petushki in the Vladimir region, about 60 miles east of Moscow, rather than in Moscow where the three lawyers have been held in detention until now. [Id.]

The outcome is a given; only the length of their sentences remains to be determined.

Russian human rights group Memorial has classified Sergunin, Liptser and Kobzev as political prisoners, and has demanded their immediate release . . . for all the good it is likely to do.

In Russia, there is no presumption of innocence.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
9/13/24