“A lawyer won’t help”, “The outcome of the case is predetermined”, “Why waste money?” — such comments can be found periodically under posts fundraising for lawyers’ fees for political prisoners in Russia.
We want to tell you why legal defence is critically important for political prisoners
1
A lawyer is the only person who can freely visit a prisoner in a pre-trial detention centre or penal colony, and communicate with them without censorship. As a rule, it is through defence lawyers that we learn about torture or other repression. And sometimes the defence lawyer becomes the only channel of communication with the prisoner — when the administration blocks the prisoner’s correspondence.
2
The presence of a lawyer by agreement is often in itself a defence against torture and repression. After all, despite the Russian authorities’ high propensity for torture, law enforcers try to use violence covertly and do not like publicity, or inspections by supervising authorities. When a person has a lawyer, it is no longer possible to torture him or her covertly.
3
The lawyer stays with the accused throughout — during interrogations, investigations and court hearings. Just imagine: this is the only person who stands with you, shoulder to shoulder, in an unequal battle against a repressive system. All while defending your rights and supporting you.
4
A lawyer will always advise the accused, and recommend what testimony to give, or not give, so as not to worsen the situation. Often, reclassification to more serious articles is based on the testimony of the arrestee. The presence of a lawyer reduces the risk of charges being worsened.
5
Despite the political situation in Russia, defence lawyers are still in some cases able to reduce the scope of charges, reduce prison sentences and even win their clients’ release. For example, in the case of Mikhail Balabanov, who was accused of planning to set fire to a military recruitment centre, the court reclassified the charge to a lighter one, and imposed half the sentence requested by the prosecutor — 4.5 years in prison instead of 9.
6
It is in the defence lawyer’s power to ensure the publicity of the trial by providing independent media with information about the case. Otherwise, we often learn about anti-war cases only from state propaganda media, who try their best to smear the defendants, or hide their names altogether.
7
Finally, the work of the defence lawyer in appealing the verdict and the documents obtained can significantly simplify and speed up the process of releasing political prisoners in case the political situation changes. Although the recognition of political prisoners is a separate process, it is often impossible to initiate it without the case file obtained by the lawyer.
Not all lawyers can guarantee such protection for political prisoners, so we carefully choose reliable and honest defence lawyers for those we support.
We ask you to support our fundraisers for defence lawyers: thanks to them, prisoners and detainees are protected from torture, have a connection to the outside world, and are not left alone with the system.