Mark Feygin

Mark Zakharovich Feygin (Russian: Ма́рк Заха́рович Фе́йгин; born 3 June 1971)[1] is a former Russian lawyer and politician. He served from January 1994 to December 1995 as a deputy of the State Duma and was the vice mayor of Samara.[2] In 2011 and 2012, Feygin was active in opposition to President Vladimir Putin, and announced that he was forming an opposition party.[3][4] Mark Feygin was disbarred on 24 April 2018.[5]

Mark Feygin
Mark Feygin in the 1990s
Born
Mark Zakharovich Feygin

3 June 1971 (1971-06-03) (age 49)[1]
Kuybyshev, Russian SFSR
NationalityRussian
Occupationformer lawyer, politician
Known forState Duma deputy, defense of Pussy Riot

Biography

In 1995 he graduated from the Law Faculty of the Samara State University. He was one of the leaders of the democratic movement in Samara, co-chairman of the regional organization of the movement Democratic Russia.

In 1993-1996 Feygin served as the Deputy of the State Duma from the fraction of Vybor Rossii, one of the authors and developers of the first edition of the Federal Law About General Principles of Local Government in Russian Federation. In 1995 he took a part in parliamentary groups participated in humanitarian missions during the combat operations in the North Caucasus. In 1996 he was also the editor in chief of the daily newspaper "CHISLA" published in Samara.[6]

In 2000 he graduated from the Institute of Business Administration, Academy of National Economy under the Government of the Russian Federation (Moscow), faculty of "Strategic Management". In 2002 - the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Feygin is the author of more than 20 scientific publications in the theme of municipal law and a number of monographs - The constitutional foundations of local government in the Russian Federation, The codification of the laws on local government in the Russian Federation, textbook State power and local self-government.

Notable defense cases

In 2012, Feygin served as one of three lawyers for Pussy Riot, a punk band arrested for an unauthorized performance in Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Savior.[7][8] The band's trial became an international cause célèbre during their trial on charges of hooliganism.[9] On 1 October 2012, an appellate hearing was postponed in the Moscow City Court after band member Yekaterina Samutsevich informed a panel of three judges that she wished to terminate the representation of her defense attorneys, stating, "My position in the criminal case does not coincide with their position."[10] Samutsevich's new lawyer, Irina Khrunova, argued that her client had not in fact committed the acts of hooliganism in the church as she was prevented from accessing the soleas by church security. The court appeared to accept this argument, and released Samutsevich on two years probation. However, the judges rejected the appeals of Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina, upholding their convictions and sentences.[11][12]

On 19 November, Feygin and the two other lawyers for Pussy Riot withdrew from the case prior to Tolokonnikova's appeal, stating that they felt the court would be more likely to grant it if they were no longer a part of the defense.[13] Samutsevich criticized the original legal team for allegedly using the trial for personal publicity rather than securing the release of the defendants.[14] On 21 November, Samutsevich's lawyer told the press that Samutsevich was considering requesting that Feygin and the other original lawyers be disbarred for failing to return her passport and other belongings.[8] Feygin responded via Twitter that Samutsevich was part of a "defamation campaign organized by the authorities", while another member of the legal team, Violeta Volkova, responded that the claims were "part of an agreement that allowed her to break free of the case".[8] On 21 January 2013, Feygin, Volkova, and Nikolay Polozov filed suit against Khrunova and Kommersant for defamation.[15] This suit was rejected by the Tverskoi District Court on 20 August 2013.[16]

Feygin also defended Leonid Razvozzhayev, an opposition political aide who accused Russian authorities of having kidnapped him from Kiev, Ukraine to face terrorism charges.[17]

Since 11 June 2014 Feygin also defended Nadiya Savchenko, a Ukrainian air-force pilot who was captured by pro-Russian insurgents during the 2014 insurgency in Donbass (in eastern Ukraine) and who was detained in Russia and charged with the killing of two Russian journalists.[18][19]

Anatoly Shariy lawsuit

On 13 July 2017 during a live broadcast of the show "My Truth" on the "Moscow Talking" radio channel, Feygin stated "He (Anatoly Shariy) is under investigation for pedophilia, I think there are people looking into it. So this guy, hopefully, sooner or later will be held accountable."[20] On 18 July 2017 lawyers representing Anatoly Shariy filed a defamation lawsuit against Feygin in the Khamovniki District Court of Moscow and the Investigative Committee of Russia.[21] Shariy asked to retract the accusation, requested a criminal investigation and demanded a public apology.[22] Feygin refused to apologize saying "Never. Let this lawsuit be dealt with, are there any problems? I don't see a problem. (...) In regards to this matter, there are court decisions in Ukraine, so I think there's absolutely no point to react to it".[23]

On 25 October 2017 the Khamovniki District Court of Moscow ruled in favor of Anatoly Shariy by ordering Mark Feygin to retract his statements on the same radio show within 10 days and make a payment of 66,000 rubles (approx US$1000) in court fees.[24] Mark Feygin's lawyer filed an appeal.

On 20 April 2018 the Moscow City Court upheld the previous court's decision with one correction: in Mark Feygin's public retraction, he does not have to say "Shariy is not a pedophile", however he must state "Shariy is not under investigation for pedophilia" [25]

In March 2019, Feygin has allegedly won the similar Moscow lawsuit against Shariy for the sum of 140 000 Russian rubles. Shariy's lawyer Stalina Gurevich almost immediatly dismissed the statement as being fake, however Feygin has later on insisted that, as of September 2019, he still has not received monetary satisfaction from Shariy's side for winning the said lawsuit.[26]

Disbarment

On 24 April 2018 the Moscow Chamber of Lawyers stripped Mark Feygin of his attorney status. He has been allowed to reinstate it after a period of one year by passing a bar exam or by successfully appealing the Chamber's decision. The ruling was based on Feygin's "inappropriate statements" (foul language) made towards Anatoly Shariy's lawyer Stalina Gurevich and Shariy himself .[27] The court agreed with the plaintiff that Mark Feygin used foul language via his Twitter account to address a lawyer colleague and her client.[28] Mark Feygin stated he will be filing an appeal.[29]

This wasn't the first time Mark Feygin's attorney status was debated in court. Ilya Novikov, an attorney who defended Nadiya Savchenko together with Mark Feygin, filed a complaint to the Moscow Chamber of Lawyers, asking for Feygin's disbarment by claiming that "Feygin violates the code of professional ethics of lawyers by speaking obscenely in social media." On 9 August 2017 the Chamber made a decision to give out warnings to both Feygin and Novikov.[30] Novikov claims that on the way out of the courthouse, Feygin headbutted him in the elevator.[31]

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References
  1. "Archived copy" Биография (in Russian). feygin.ru. Archived from the original on 18 November 2012. Retrieved 18 November 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "How the Pussy Riot Girls Trial Fell Apart". The Daily Beast. 8 May 2013. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
  3. James Brooke (11 June 2012). "Russian Police Raid Opposition Leaders' Homes Ahead of Protest". Voice of America. Archived from the original on 18 November 2012. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
  4. "Poor Election Showing by Russia's Ruling Party Creates Hurtles for Putin". State News Service  – via HighBeam Research (subscription required) . 6 December 2011. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
  5. "Pussy Riot Lawyer Disbarred for Insulting Tweets". Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  6. Биография Фейгина Марка [Biography of mark Feygin] (in Russian). obeschania.ru. 8 October 2015. Archived from the original on 4 October 2015. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  7. "Anti-Putin Pussy Riot band members get 2 years in prison". CBC.ca. 17 August 2012. Archived from the original on 31 October 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
  8. Natalya Krainova (21 November 2012). "Samutsevich Threatens Past Pussy Riot Lawyers". The Moscow Times. Archived from the original on 22 November 2012. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
  9. "The Pussy Riot act". The Financial Times. 31 July 2012. Retrieved 1 August 2012. (registration required)
  10. David M. Herszenhorn (1 October 2012). "Moscow Court Postpones Pussy Riot Hearing". Archived from the original on 31 October 2012. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
  11. James Brooke (10 October 2012). "Russia Frees One Punk Rocker, Keeps Two in Jail". Voice of America. Archived from the original on 1 November 2012. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
  12. "One of three Pussy Riot band members freed". gazeta.ru. 10 October 2012. Archived from the original on 1 November 2012. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
  13. "Pussy Riot attorneys terminate agreement with band members". RAPSI. 19 November 2012. Archived from the original on 19 November 2012. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
  14. David Wagner (21 November 2012). "What Pussy Riot's New Path to Freedom Looks Like". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on 22 November 2012. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
  15. "Бывшие адвокаты Pussy Riot подали иск к "Коммерсанту" и Хруновой" (in Russian). Lenta. 21 January 2013. Archived from the original on 22 January 2013. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
  16. "Former Pussy Riot lawyers' defamation suit rejected". RAPSI. 20 August 2013. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
  17. Kathy Lally (26 October 2012). "Russia accused of kidnapping". The Washington Post.  – via HighBeam Research (subscription required) . Archived from the original on 17 November 2018. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
  18. Ukraine conflict: Russia charges pilot over deaths, BBC News (9 July 2014)
    Russia Charges Ukrainian Pilot Savchenko Over Journalists' Deaths, NBC News (9 July 2014)
  19. (in Ukrainian) Defender "Pussy Riot" became a lawyer pilots Nadiya, Ukrayinska Pravda (11 July 2014)
  20. "Шарий потребовал завести дело на "нездорового" Фейгина из-за слов о педофилии". Retrieved 27 October 2017.
  21. "Блогер Шарий подал в суд на адвоката Фейгина из-за обвинений в педофилии". govoritmoskva.ru. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
  22. Журналист Шарий подал иск к адвокату Фейгину. Эхо Москвы (in Russian). Retrieved 28 October 2017.
  23. "Шарий потребовал завести дело на "нездорового" Фейгина из-за слов о педофилии". Retrieved 28 October 2017.
  24. Суд в Москве обязал адвоката Фейгина опровергнуть сведения о журналисте Шарии. ТАСС (in Russian). Retrieved 28 October 2017.
  25. "Решение по иску журналиста Шария к адвокату Фейгину вступило в силу". РАПСИ. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  26. ""Давай, чмо бородатое!" Фейгин оскорбил Шария и похвастался решением суда". ANTIKOR.UA. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
  27. "Марк Фейгин лишен адвокатского статуса". 24 April 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  28. "Марка Фейгина лишили адвокатского статуса за нецензурную лексику". www.aif.ru. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  29. Фейгин обжалует решение о лишении его статуса адвоката (in Russian). Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  30. Адвокаты Новиков и Фейгин получили предупреждение за перепалку в соцсетях. РИА Новости (in Russian). 9 August 2017. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  31. Боднул головой и кинулся с кулаками: стало известно о потасовке экс-адвокатов Савченко. Мир (in Russian). Retrieved 25 April 2018.
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