Russian lawyer Mark Feigin, representing the Ukrainian prisoner of war Nadezhda Savchenko, was deprived of his status for inappropriate messages on one of the social networks. According to media reports, the lawyer is going to appeal against his dismissal.
Lawyer status terminated
The biography of Mark Feigin is quite rich. The fame of the lawyer peaked when he led the case of the group Pussy Riot. Prior to his dismissal, Feigin represented Roman Suschenko, a citizen of Ukraine, who is undergoing espionage charges against Russia.
On April 24, the Moscow Bar Association revoked Mark Feigin’s license for strict wording on social networks. The Bar considered this a violation of ethical rules. Stalin’s lawyer Gurevich filed a complaint against Mark Feigin. She told reporters that Feigin was repeatedly warned of inappropriate behavior.
A series of posts on Twitter served as the basis for his dismissal.
How it all began
In July 2017, Mark Feigin on the air of a well-known radio station, as Gurevich says, said that her client was in the pedophilia case. It was about the journalist and blogger of Ukraine Anatoly Sharye, who, after the accusations, filed a lawsuit to protect honor and dignity. The journalist demanded a public apology and a refutation of the said information. Gurevich also joined in this case.
Mark Feigin did not provide any evidence of what was said, although he claimed that he had it in his hands. Instead, he publicly began to insult Sharia and Gurevich in social networks. This is precisely what led to the fact that Gurevich had to turn to the Commission of the Bar Association, and then to the Investigative Committee of Russia under the article on defamation. Both departments rejected the lawsuit.
Gurevich claims that after these actions Feigin again began to write posts with insults in her direction. This time the chamber took up a second application.
Brief interview
Feigin spoke with Ukrinform about making this decision.
The lawyer said that the discussion took place without him, so he did not know anything for sure. However, he soon received information from which it follows that almost half of the members of the college of advocates supported Feigin, and only one vote was opposed. Mark Feigin said that he did not know who and how to vote, except for the voice of one person who disappointed him.
When asked about the essence of the disciplinary case against him, the lawyer openly replies that he was deprived of his status for three published posts on Twitter, which contained obscene remarks. According to the lawyer, the board saw a violation of ethics and Internet rules here. By the way, this item was adopted recently.
The Ukrinform agency tried to find out what offensive words were said. Mark Feigin claims that it was not just “insulting language”: he used the phrase “Kremlin suckers,” and the general meaning of the tweets was really rude, but he emphasized that this was a political definition and a political statement to the authorities, and not some kind of stupid "offensive language."
The Russian lawyer also claims that when making the decision, the rules of advocacy were violated. Violations were related to the expiration of the sentence.
How is the situation now
Mark Feigin is deprived of status, but believes that everything that happened directly is connected with the case of journalist Roman Suschenko, who is accused of espionage, as well as with other political prisoners, whose interests he defended. The lawyer considers the situation as a deliberate attempt to remove him from the process.
Mark Feigin promised to appeal his dismissal. However, in August, a court ruled that the Feigin denial case was legal. Feigin has the opportunity to return the license after a year, passing the exams again.