Tatiana Shamsova on the Bolotnaya Trial: Not a Legal Proceeding, but an Act of Reprisal and a Mockery of Justice

21 September 2013 By Tatiana Shamsova Natalya Nikishina, presiding judge at the trial of 12 participants in the protest rally of 6 May 2012 on Bolotnaya Square is an obvious candidate for the Magnitsky list.  Disgust, indignation and helplessness were my feelings at one of the September sessions of this trial that has been going on for three months now. Judge Nikishina, arrogant to the point of impudence, reigns in the courtroom, equally demonstrating her contempt for the defendants, the defence lawyers and the members of the public. She is bored, and even playing with people's lives does not entertain her. This well-groomed lady embodies vividly the rotten Russian judicial system that gives her the right to take over the role of persecutor, thus offending the basic principle of fair trial, the equality of arms between the defence and the prosecution [See footnote 1]. Here I will give only one example of the numerous violations of trial procedure, leaving aside altogether the humiliation and poor treatment that the accused are experiencing. [Read more]