Lawyers for Lawyers is deeply concerned about the arbitrary arrest, detention and designation as extremists and terrorists of Vadim Kobzev, Igor Sergunin, and Alexey Liptser, defence lawyers of Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny. [1]
The Federal Financial Monitoring Service of the Russian Federation, Rosfinmonitoring, has designated lawyers Vadim Kobzev, Igor Sergunin, and Alexei Liptser, who represented Alexei Navalny, as terrorists and extremists. As per the law, individuals on this list lose access to banking services, including the ability to open and operate accounts. Foremost, being listed implies that legal proceedings have been launched against them under the “extremist” and “terrorist” provisions of the Russian Criminal Code.
On October 13, 2023, Russia’s police and Investigative Committee conducted searches at the homes and offices of Vadim Kobzev, Alexey Liptser, and Igor Sergunin. Later that day, the three defence lawyers were arrested and detained at Basmanny District Court in Moscow, facing charges of “participation in an extremist organization.” Pursuant to Article 282.1(2) of the Russian Criminal Code, the lawyers could face up to six years imprisonment. Vadim Kobzev was arrested in the small city of Kovrov where Navalny is serving a 19-year sentence. While Kobzev, Liptser, and Sergunin remain in custody, Navalny’s two other defence lawyers, Alexander Fedulov and Olga Mikhailova, have fled the country. Authorities searched their offices as well.
The charges against Kobzev, Liptser, and Sergunin are reportedly based on accusations that the lawyers facilitated Aleksei Navalny’s communication with the outside world while in detention or the “regular transfer of information between the leaders and participants of an extremist organization.” According to Ivan Zhdanov, the head of Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, the prosecution listed a number of online videos published on platforms liked to Navalny as evidence. These videos pertain to confidential case documents but are said to relate to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. If convicted, Vadim Kobzev, Igor Sergunin, and Aleksei Liptser could potentially receive a maximum sentence of six years in prison.
The detention of the three lawyers, along with the flight of two others, comes at a delicate time as Navalny is being transferred to a ‘special regime’ detention facility, where he is likely to face ill-treatment.
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