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Mark Feygin

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Mark Feygin
Марк Фейгин
Feygin in 2023
Born
Mark Zakharovich Feygin

3 June 1971 (1971-06-03) (age 53)[1]
Kuybyshev, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
NationalityRussian
Alma materSamara State University
Occupation(s)former lawyer, politician
Known forState Duma deputy, defense of Pussy Riot
Political partyDemocratic Russia
WebsiteFEYGIN LIVE on YouTube

Mark Zakharovich Feygin (Russian: Ма́рк Заха́рович Фе́йгин; born 3 June 1971)[1] is a Russia human rights activist and former lawyer who represented Pussy Riot, Nadiya Savchenko and Leonid Razvozzhayev in Russian courts. He also 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]

Biography

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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. As such he travelled to Chechnya to negotiate the release of 2 Russian captives from Chechen captivity. Negotiations ended with the release of one captive, while second was found to be dead.[5] 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, faculty of "Strategic Management". In 2002 - the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

On 24 April 2018, the Moscow Chamber of Lawyers stripped Mark Feygin of his attorney status for the inappropriate language in his comments on Twitter about Anatoly Shariy and his lawyer.[7][8] Feygin's appeal[9] was denied.[10]

Since the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, he has gained a following on YouTube, hosting daily discussions with Ukrainian presidential advisor Oleksii Arestovych on his channel. In October 2023, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation declared Feygin a wanted fugitive, due to his pro-Ukrainian stance in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[11] In 2024 he was convicted in absentia for 11 years of corrective colony for "dissemination of knowingly false information about the Russian Army <...> motivated by political hatred".[12]

Career and notable defense cases

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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.[13][14] The band's trial became an international cause célèbre during their trial on charges of hooliganism.[15] 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."[16] 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.[17][18]

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.[19] Samutsevich criticized the original legal team for allegedly using the trial for personal publicity rather than securing the release of the defendants.[20] 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.[14] 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".[14] On 21 January 2013, Feygin, Volkova, and Nikolay Polozov filed suit against Khrunova and Kommersant for defamation.[21] This suit was rejected by the Tverskoy District Court on 20 August 2013.[22]

Feygin also defended Leonid Razvozzhayev, an opposition political aide who accused Russian authorities of having kidnapped him from Kyiv, Ukraine to face terrorism charges.[23]

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.[24][25]

References

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  1. ^ a b Биография (in Russian). feygin.ru. Archived from the original on 31 August 2013. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
  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 14 July 2014. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
  4. ^ "Poor Election Showing by Russia's Ruling Party Creates Hurtles for Putin". State News Service. 6 December 2011. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
  5. ^ "Марк Фейгин: "Чтобы изменить российскую судебную систему, надо пригласить в судьи швейцарцев"". fontanka.ru - новости Санкт-Петербурга (in Russian). 3 September 2012. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  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. ^ "Марк Фейгин лишен адвокатского статуса". 24 April 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  8. ^ "Марка Фейгина лишили адвокатского статуса за нецензурную лексику". www.aif.ru. 24 April 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  9. ^ Фейгин обжалует решение о лишении его статуса адвоката (in Russian). Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  10. ^ Марк Фейгин не отсудил свой статус
  11. ^ "МВД России объявило в розыск Марка Фейгина". Meduza. 16 October 2023. p. ru.
  12. ^ Суд заочно вынес приговор по уголовному делу о распространении заведомо ложной информации о Вооруженных Силах Российской Федерации
  13. ^ "Anti-Putin Pussy Riot band members get 2 years in prison". CBC.ca. 17 August 2012. Archived from the original on 29 October 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
  14. ^ a b c Natalya Krainova (21 November 2012). "Samutsevich Threatens Past Pussy Riot Lawyers". The Moscow Times. Archived from the original on 21 November 2012. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
  15. ^ "The Pussy Riot act". Financial Times. 31 July 2012. Retrieved 1 August 2012. (registration required)
  16. ^ David M. Herszenhorn (1 October 2012). "Moscow Court Postpones Pussy Riot Hearing". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 5 October 2012. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
  17. ^ James Brooke (10 October 2012). "Russia Frees One Punk Rocker, Keeps Two in Jail". Voice of America. Archived from the original on 12 November 2012. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
  18. ^ "One of three Pussy Riot band members freed". gazeta.ru. 10 October 2012. Archived from the original on 23 March 2013. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
  19. ^ "Pussy Riot attorneys terminate agreement with band members". RAPSI. 19 November 2012. Archived from the original on 17 May 2013. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
  20. ^ David Wagner (21 November 2012). "What Pussy Riot's New Path to Freedom Looks Like". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on 16 May 2013. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
  21. ^ "Бывшие адвокаты Pussy Riot подали иск к "Коммерсанту" и Хруновой" (in Russian). Lenta. 21 January 2013. Archived from the original on 23 January 2013. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
  22. ^ "Former Pussy Riot lawyers' defamation suit rejected". RAPSI. 20 August 2013. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
  23. ^ Kathy Lally (26 October 2012). "Russia accused of kidnapping". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 17 November 2018. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
  24. ^ 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)
  25. ^ (in Ukrainian) Defender "Pussy Riot" became a lawyer pilots Nadiya, Ukrayinska Pravda (11 July 2014)
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