IBAHRI and partners condemn the harassment of human rights lawyer Aleksey Ladin
Monday 22 January 2024
The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI), Lawyers for Lawyers, the International Observatory for Lawyers (OIAD), The Law Society of England and Wales (LSEW), the European Association of Lawyers for Democracy & Human Rights (ELDH), the Union of International Lawyers’ Institute for The Rule of Law (UIA-IROL) and the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) condemn the continued harassment against human rights lawyer Aleksey Ladin.
On 24 January 2024, the International Day of the Endangered Lawyer, human rights defender and lawyer Aleksey Ladin will face a disciplinary hearing by the Council of the Tyumen Regional Bar Association. The action was initiated by a motion issued by the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation. Mr Ladin has been working since 2015 to provide legal aid to Ukrainians who are alleged to have been subject to criminal prosecution by Russia on politically motivated charges. Since 2017, he has been based in Russian-occupied Crimea, mostly representing Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar political prisoners.
This is the latest in a series of instances of harassment and prosecution from the authorities against Mr Ladin. On 13 October 2023, the Kyivskyi District Court of Simferopol sentenced him to 14 days of administrative detention for allegedly displaying prohibited symbols on his social media pages. The Facebook post in question, a photo of a drawing made by one of his clients, displayed elements of Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar national emblems with the slogan ‘We are not the terrorists and we are not the extremists.’ The court found the ‘taraq tamga’ (the emblem on the Crimean Tatars’ flag) in the picture to be a symbol of a known Crimean volunteer paramilitary unit, Noman Çelebicihan Crimean Tatar Volunteer Battalion. The drawing had no relation to the battalion. Mr Ladin was prosecuted for exercising his right to freedom expression, which is protected under international and Russian law.
The upcoming disciplinary hearing is based on the sentence of administrative detention handed down on 13 October 2023, as the Ministry of Justice alleges that Mr Ladin violated the Code of Ethics of the Russian Bar Association, which is based on the Federal Law ‘On the Bar Association and its activities in the Russian Federation.’ The Ministry of Justice affirms that they received this information from the Centre to Counteract Extremism in Crimea on 3 November 2023.
Lawyers play a vital role in upholding the rule of law and protecting human rights guaranteed under international law, including the rights to an effective remedy and fair trial guarantees, as well as the right to freedom from torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Their work is indispensable to public confidence in the administration of justice by safeguarding due process rights and ensuring access to justice for all. To fulfil their professional duties effectively, lawyers should be able to practice their profession safely and should be free from improper interference, fear of reprisals and illegitimate restrictions, in compliance with international standards.
The United Nations Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers states that ‘Governments shall ensure that lawyers (a) are able to perform all of their professional functions without intimidation, hindrance, harassment or improper interference; (…) and (c) shall not suffer, or be threatened with, prosecution or administrative, economic or other sanctions for any action taken in accordance with recognized professional duties, standards and ethics’ [16]. They also hold that ‘lawyers shall not be identified with their clients or their clients’ causes as a result of discharging their functions’ [18] and that ‘lawyers, like any other citizens, are entitled to freedom of expression, belief, association and assembly’ [23].
In view of the above, the undersigned organisations call on the Tyumen Regional Bar Association, the Russian Federal Bar Association and the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation to:
- immediately drop the disciplinary proceedings against human rights lawyer Aleksey Lapin, as he is being targeted as a result of his peaceful and legitimate activities;
- ensure that any legitimate disciplinary proceedings against lawyers are conducted fairly and independently, in accordance with international standards;
- refrain from any actions that may constitute harassment, persecution or undue interference in the work of lawyers, including disciplinary or criminal proceedings on improper grounds, such as the nature of the cases in which the lawyer is involved; and
- guarantee that all lawyers in Russia and Russian-occupied Crimea are able to carry out their legitimate professional activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions including judicial harassment, arbitrary arrest, deprivation of liberty or other arbitrary sanctions.
ENDS
For further information, please contact: the IBA Human Rights Institute at IBAHRI@int-bar.org
Notes to the Editor
-
The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI), established in 1995 under Founding Honorary President Nelson Mandela, is an autonomous and financially independent entity, working to promote, protect and enforce human rights under a just rule of law, and to preserve the independence of the judiciary and the legal profession worldwide.
- Find the IBAHRI (@IBAHRI) on social media here:
-
The International Bar Association (IBA), the global voice of the legal profession, is the foremost organisation for international legal practitioners, bar associations and law societies. Established in 1947, shortly after the creation of the United Nations, it was born out of the conviction that an organisation made up of the world's bar associations could contribute to global stability and peace through the administration of justice.
The IBA acts as a connector, enabler, and influencer, for the administration of justice, fair practice, and accountability worldwide. The IBA has collaborated on a broad range of ground-breaking, international projects with the United Nations, the European Parliament, the Council of Europe, The Commonwealth, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Trade Organization, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, among others.
- Find the IBA (@IBAnews) on social media here:
Website page link for this news release:
Short link: www.tinyurl.com/yen2rxte
Full link: www.ibanet.org/IBAHRI-and-partners-condemn-the-harassment-of-human-rights-lawyer-Aleksey-Ladin