#FreeSavchenko: Faces of the Russian Каngaroo Court

The whole world has united demanding Russia’s top officials to free Nadiya Savchenko, subject of the Russian kangaroo court. The diplomats pressure Russia with threats of making sanction lists of persons directly participating in the court proceedings. At the moment the ‘Savchenko List’ has not been approved yet as no actual sentence has been passed, but it seems very likely that the judgment will be announced on March 21 or 22, 2016. Despite all gaps and holes in the prosecution’s line which were repeatedly torn to pieces by the facts presented by Savchenko’s defense, the Russian prosecution demands 23 years in prison for Nadiya.

The so-called ‘Savchenko List’ made by the EU is a copy of the list made by the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and published as early as on 24.02.2015. However, at that time it consisted of 35 persons while the EU diplomats reduced it to 29 persons including all top leaders with President of Russia Vladimir Putin as No.1. The list is just names and titles which, for the most part, mean nothing to ordinary citizens.

So, the judges in the Savchenko proceedings which were included in the EU preliminary sanction list:

I The first group consists of the Voronezh judges with their notable decisions delivered immediately following Savchenko’s illegal forced transfer to the territory of Russia.

Sorokin, Dmitriy Arkadyevich — judge of the Novousmansky District Court of Voronezh region who ruled that Savchenko was to remain under arrest till 30.08.2014 on the first court session on 02.07.2014.  In 2013 the total income of his family amounted to 1 million 40 thousand roubles.

Litovkina, Tatyana Aleksandrovna – judge of the Voronezh Regional Court presiding over the appellate court session on 25.07.2014 in the case of N.V. Savchenko. She dismissed the defense lawyers’ appeal against Savchenko’s arrest till 30.08.2014.

 

 

Saligov, Magomed Topayevich – judge of the Sovetsky District Court of Voronezh who on 27.08.2014 ruled on extending the detention term till 30.10.2014 and denied changing the restraining order on bail. He also ruled on subjecting N.V.Savchenko to a psychological and psychiatric examination.

 

Kosenkov, Nikolay Fedorovich – judge of the Voronezh Regional Court. On 15.09.2014 he dismissed the defense lawyers’ appeal against Savchenko’s detention till 30.10.2014.
II They are followed by the Moscow judges with considerable experience and service records who participated in high-profile court proceedings.

 

 

Levashova, Valentina Yevgenievna – judge of the Basmanny District Court of Moscow. On 27.10.2014 she extended N.V.Savchenko’s detention till 13.02.2015. On 04.03.2015 she presided over the court session where N.V.Savchenko’s defense lawyers tried to appeal against the denial of her release for participation in the PACE session of January 2015 by investigators of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation. The judge dismissed the lawyers’ appeal. She is known as the judge of the ‘Bolotnaya Square Case’ of Ilya Gushchin, Alexander Margolin and Leonid Razvozzhayev. In July 2015 she ruled on arresting Ilya Ponomarev in absentia. Ilya Ponomarev was accused of complicity in misappropriation of the Skolkovo Foundation money but is better known as the only deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation who voted against the annexation of the Crimea.

Pasyunin, Yuriy Anatolievich – judge of the Moscow Municipal Court. On 22.12.2014 he ruled on dismissing the appeal of N.V.Savchenko’s defense lawyers against her detention till 13.02.2015.

 

 

 

Karpov, Artur Gennadievich – judge of the Basmanny District Court of Moscow. On 10.02.2015 he extended Savchenko’s arrest till 13.05.2015. Karpov transferred to the judicial system from the military prosecution. He turned up in the infamous ‘YUKOS Case’, and in 2011-2012 also participated in the ‘Magnitsky Case’ where he dismissed several appeals against lack of action by the investigative authorities, in 2012-2013 he participated in the proceedings against the persons detained in the ‘Bolotnaya Square Case’. He will hardly be surprised to find himself in another sanction list.

Mokhov, Andrey Valerievich – judge of the Moscow Municipal Court. On 25.02.2015 he ruled on the dismissal of N.V.Savchenko’s defense lawyers’ appeal against her detention till 13.05.2015. On 12.09.2012 he was in the panel of judges who dismissed the cassation appeal from the arrest of Vladimir Akimenkov connected to the ‘Bolotnaya Square Case’.

The Tymoshenko Bloc limited their list of judges to these names only. However, in March 2015 the court proceedings not only were not finished but even picked up speed involving more and more persons whose data was discovered by the InformNapalm team:

Mushnikova, Nataliya Yevgenievna – judge of the Moscow Municipal Court, born in 1973. On 06.05.15 she extended Savchenko’s pretrial detention till 30.06.2015. In 2011 she was one of those who ‘denied justice’ to Sergei Magnitsky’s mother. She extended the arrest of the terminally ill Vasily Alexanyan, Vice-President of YUKOS and dismissed his defense lawyers’ appeals against the investigators’ actions. She was also a judge in the proceedings of persons arrested in the ‘Bolotnaya Square Case’ in 2012-2014.

Melekhin, Pavel Vladimirovich – judge of the Moscow Municipal Court. On June 10, 2015 he delivered a decision on extending Savchenko’s pretrial detention till September 10, 2015.

We would like to point out that the Security Service of Ukraine and the Office of General Prosecutor of Ukraine charged judges Karpov, Melekhin and Mushnikova with suspected illegal detention of Savchenko.

 

  

In addition to the judges, the Security Service of Ukraine expressed its suspicion to the persons responsible for giving false evidence against N.V.Savchenko.

Manshyn, Dmitriy Sergeevich – investigator of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, Major of Justice. At the initial stage of the Savchenko case he conducted interrogations and supported prosecution on behalf of the government in court. In 2008 he ‘investigated‘ the so-called ‘criminal case of genocide and mass murder of Russian citizens during the Georgia’s aggression against South Ossetia’ for which he was even awarded a medal by the pseudo-president of South Ossetia.

Investigators included in the EU’s preliminary sanction list together with Manshyn:

Grachev, Timofey Vladimirovich – chief investigator of the investigative department for crimes related to prohibited means and methods of warfare of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, Major of Justice. Most people would think that the man in the picture is a criminal defendant, but in fact, it’s an investigator. In June 2012 he was included in the extended investigation team of the ‘Bolotnaya Square Case’. The investigator’s rhetoric is hardly different from that of inmates: ‘At the Investigative Committee building Timofey Grachev greeted Filipp Dolbunov (Galtsov) with the following words: ‘You don’t want to be ass-fucked, do you? Then you will be my friend’. The interrogation began. Grachev started with punching Filipp twice in the face and slapping him up the head: ‘Stop looking at me like I’m shit or you will become shit yourself’.

Drymanov, Alexander Alexandrovich – chief major crimes investigator of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation. He fabricated the pseudo-criminal case against Nadiya Savchenko. With his knowledge and consent, Nadiya’s psychiatric examination and torture in the Serbsky Institute were organized.

 

 

On 27.08.2015 the ‘sharks’ of the Russian Themis in the judicial panel upheld the resolution extending Savchenko’s detention.

Alisov, Igor Borisovich – judge of the Moscow Municipal Court. He was the judge trying one of the criminal cases on misappropriation from the Russian budget of 5.4 billion roubles previously paid by companies under the control of the Hermitage investment fund as profit tax. This is why he was also included in the so-called ‘Magnitsky List’.

 

Olikhver, Nataliya Ivanovna – judge of the Moscow Municipal Court. She was the judge whose actions were evaluated on October 23, 2012 by the European Court of Human Rights in its resolution on the Pichugin vs. Russia claim. She signed the verdict by which in 2005 chief of the security service of YUKOS, Alexey Pichugin, was sentenced to his first 20 years in maximum-security prison. Memorial Human Rights Society (Moscow) recognized Alexey Pichugin as political prisoner. On December 13, 2012 – on the occasion of the 80^th anniversary of the Moscow Municipal Court – Nataliya Olikhver was awarded the ‘Honourable Service’ decoration. Also, Olikhver served ‘faithfully and loyally’ to the Russian ruler in the trial of the case of opposition members, Sergey Udaltsov and Leonid Razvozzhayev, severed from the ‘Bolotnaya Square Case’.

Nikishina, Nataliya Viktorovna – judge of the Moscow Municipal Court. In 2013-2014 she held the proceedings of the ‘Bolotnaya Square Case’. The Bolotnaya Square protesters were tried in groups. The case of the first group of 8 persons was tried by Nikishina who sentenced all defendants to three and a half years in prison on the average.

When the Savchenko proceedings location changed in the summer of 2015, the panel of judges changed as well. The sanction list should be supplemented with these new names:

Malysheva, Yekaterina Anatolievna – judge of the Rostov Regional Court. On 01.10.2015 she upheld the resolution extending Savchenko’s arrest till 16.04.2016.

 

 

Kirsanova, Lyudmila Vladimirovna – judge of the Rostov Regional Court. On 04.12.2105 and 25.12.2015 she upheld the resolution extending Savchenko’s arrest till 16.04.2016.

 

 

Degtyarev, Aleksandr Alekseyevich – the presiding judge, judge of the Rostov Regional Court. On 21.08.2015 he dismissed Savchenko’s defense lawyers’ application for prohibition of the case trial in Donetsk, a city near the border with the territory beyond the control of Ukraine. The judge’s property and income in 2014 amounted to 2 million 355 thousand roubles.

The change of the case geography led to changes in the proceedings reporting. For example, during the court sessions photography and video recording is allowed only in respect of the defense lawyers and Nadiya Savchenko herself. Photographing judges and prosecution is strictly prohibited.

Panel of Donetsk municipal judges of the Rostov region who will pass the final verdict in the Savchenko  case:

 

Khaibulayev, Ali Salakhudinovich – presiding judge of the Donetsk Municipal Court of the Rostov Oblast.

 

 

 

 

 

Chernysh, Yevgeiya Sergeevna – judge of the Donetsk Municipal Court of the Rostov Oblast. For her the Savchenko trial has become a kind of professional development, as previously she only tried civil and administrative cases. The last criminal case verdict passed by Chernysh was in 2012.

 

Stepanenko, Leonid Aleksandrovich – born on 25.07.1960, judge of the Donetsk Municipal Court of the Rostov Oblast. The city location near the border defined the judge’s specialization mostly in cases of violations of the border crossing regulations, carriage of weapons, ammunition, goods, as well as in other unremarkable cases. For example, in the verdict of 19.09.2014 the person charged with carriage of weapons purchased on the territory beyond the control of Ukraine was sentenced only to 6 (six!) months in prison.

The EU’s preliminary sanction list does not include the prosecuting attorneys who are afraid to have their faces photographed during the court sessions in Donetsk:

Filipchuk, Pavel Igorevich – prosecutor of the Moscow region. Together with his colleagues, he was a prosecutor in the consideration of arrest extension for persons detained in the ‘Bolotnaya Square Case’. According to Mr. Polozov, the defense lawyer, it was him who requested 23 years in prison for Nadiya Savchenko in the Donetsk court.

 

Kuznetsov, Vladislav Vyacheslavovich – prosecutor of the public prosecutors department of the criminal court administration, counselor of justice.

 

 

 

 

Yunoshev, Dmitriy Vladimirovich – prosecutor of the public prosecutors department of the criminal court administration, 1st rank lawyer. Born on 26.12.1985 on the Gigant state farm in the Rostov Oblast; was found in social networks. Profile archive http://archive.is/8cMgO

The video made by Russia-24 in the session hall in Rostov-on-Don allowed ‘looking’ them in the eye.
 

Glyuzitsky, Alexander Viktorovich – born on 25.09.1973, prosecutor in the department of the prosecutor’s office of the Rostov Oblast. On 25.12.2012 he spoke in the court session against the appeal by Mr. Polozov, the defense lawyer, for release of Savchenko as a PACE member.

Let’s admit that Nadiya Savchenko is not the only citizen of Ukraine unlawfully held in Russian detention facilities or prisons and that we have to make similar ‘Sentsov List’, ‘Kolchenko List’, etc. But here the error was made by their defense – maximal publicity could have attracted attention to the participants of any proceedings. However, we believe it’s not too late now, and the Ukrainian sanction list can be expanded with the names of those serving the Russian Themis who passed sentences for other Ukrainians. The professional defense team of Nikolay Polozov, Ilya Novikov and Mark Feygin made the Savchenko trial really public, despite the fact that the court sessions were closed. We appeal to the relatives, friends, defense lawyers of the Ukrainian prisoners held in Russian cells for names of judges and prosecutors who brought unsubstantiated charges and made resolutions.

Let us make lists together!

List of Ukrainian political prisoners:

1. Nadiya Savchenko, 34, faces 20 to 25 years in prison
2. Oleg Sentsov, 39, sentenced to 20 years, place of service unknown
3. Oleksandr Kolchenko, 26, sentenced to 10 years, place of service unknown
4. Mykola Karpyuk, 51, faces 15 years in prison, detained in Grozny, Chechnya
5. Oleksiy Chirniy, 43, sentenced to 7 years, serving in Magadan
6. Gennadiy Afanasyev, 25, sentenced to 7 years, serving in Syktyvkar
7. Stanislav Klykh, 41, faces 15 years to life, detained in Grozny
8. Akhtem Chiygoz, 52, faces up to 15 years in prison, detained in Simferopol
9. Oleksandr Kostenko, 29, sentenced to 3 years and 11 months, serving in Kirovo-Cherepovets
10. Valentyn Vygovskiy, 32, sentenced to 11 years, serving in Moscow
11. Sergiy Litvinov, 32, faces up to 12 years in prison, detained in Rostov-on-Don
12. Yuriy Soloshenko, 73, sentenced to 6 years, serving in Nizhniy Novgorod
13. Ali Asanov, 33, faces up to 8 years in prison, detained in Simferopol
14. Mustafa Degermendzhy, 26, faces up to 8 years in prison, detained in Simferopol
15. Nuri Primov, 40, faces up to 10 years in prison, detained in Simferopol
16. Rustem Vaitov, 31, faces up to 10 years in prison, detained in Simferopol
17. Ferat Saifullayev, 33, faces up to 10 years in prison, detained in Simferopol
18. Yuriy Ilchenko, 37, faces up to 20 years in prison, detained in Simferopol
19. Kheyser Dzhemilev, 34, sentenced to 3 years and 6 months, serving in Astrakhan
20. Viktor Shchur, 58, sentenced to 12 years, serving in Tatarstan

• Note

  Kangaroo court is an English idiom and is often held to give the appearance of a fair and just trial, even though the verdict has in reality already been decided before the trial has begun.

  Examples of the ‘kangaroo court’ can be found in many countries.

  For example, in Iraq in 1958 in the days of Colonel Abdul Karim Qasim, the court usually lasted 15 minutes and ended with the imposition of the death penalty.

  Russell Tribunal, also known as the International War Crimes Tribunal, for the crimes committed in Vietnam is also often called ‘kangaroo court’.

  Ken Hood, a columnist of the British newspaper ‘The Guardian’, evaluates trials of prisoners of the US Guantanamo Bay detention camp as a ‘kangaroo court’.

  There is a couple of alike idioms in Russia too – ‘Shemyakin court’, and ‘Basmanny justice’ in XXI century.

Original article by Victory Krm