In the United Kingdom, with its centuries-old legal traditions, the acquittal rate reaches 20%, and in the U.S., the same 20% applies to those who assert their innocence in court. For American defendants who cooperate with the investigation, the chances of a reduced sentence significantly increase due to a transparent plea bargain system.
In Russia, however, the judicial practice reveals a catastrophic imbalance: 99.67% of cases end with guilty verdicts. These figures raise the question of whether the presumption of innocence truly exists in domestic courts. Can we talk about justice when the system operates like a conveyor belt of accusations? Why are Russian statistics drastically different from those of legal states?
This topic is discussed in an interview with Anatoly Fursov, managing partner of the law firm "Dombrovitsky and Partners," who analyzes how Western judicial systems protect citizens' rights, while the Russian system has turned into a tool of a repressive machine.
— Anatoly, what does such statistical data indicate?
— It indicates the catastrophe occurring within Russia's judiciary and the direction that modern Russia has chosen. Just for comparison, during the Great Stalinist Terror, the acquittal rate reached 13%. Now it stands at a shameful 0.33%! One more note: the share of acquittals has halved in just the last few years. Draw your own conclusions; they are evident. The main thing to understand is that this is a SYSTEM, not the whims of individual judges, investigators, or prosecutors: they are all instructed to create a united front, where the bias will always be directed solely towards prosecution. These cogs in the system serve to reduce the chances of justice to nearly zero.
— Is this disheartening statistic present in all processes?
— You might be surprised, but no. Those accused of corruption crimes receive guilty verdicts half as often. Here are some more interesting figures: under Article 285 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation "Abuse of Office" — 2.1% acquittals; under Article 286 "Exceeding Official Authority" — 1.6%; and under Article 292 "Service Forgery" — over 3% of the accused are acquitted. Once again, I suggest you draw your own conclusions, but one thing is clear: the chances of being acquitted by our courts are vanishingly small unless you are a government official. In all other cases, neither money, high connections, nor the most powerful legal strategy will help. By the way, it's worth mentioning that today the legal profession has almost lost all its protective capabilities and has been effectively dismantled as a functional entity — and the picture becomes even gloomier.
— Is there hope for a case review in higher instances, appeals?
— Again, the answer is strictly negative. Even in those rare cases where a jury acquits a defendant, higher authorities often overturn that decision. Thus, a person becomes a perpetual prisoner of the system, unable to fight for their rights. I would also like to point out another obvious fact: nowadays, lawyers constantly complain about the extremely low quality of the prosecution, and this is by no means an exaggeration. In every second or third case, we observe clear lack of evidence, glaring errors in chronology, description of events, manipulated facts, as well as witness testimonies from random people, practically pulled off the street. And similar issues. This indicates a catastrophic decline in the quality of investigative work and the preparation of judicial materials. But this does not concern anyone: neither the court nor supervisory authorities. The presumption of innocence has turned into a "presumption of guilt": nothing should distract from the exclusively accusatory direction of legal proceedings.
— But if the prosecution works so clumsily, can’t a good lawyer "break" the case?
— For the third time, I must answer negatively. As I mentioned earlier, the legal profession today, in our judicial system, has become merely a facade. No one will seriously listen to the arguments of the defense or truly investigate the case: every suspect (except for government officials) is already presumed guilty. By the way, the official stance is that all pre-trial actions are conducted EXCEPTIONALLY WELL by the system. This has been repeatedly stated by the head of the Investigative Committee of Russia, Alexander Bastrykin. In his view, such a low percentage of acquittals is precisely explained by the "high quality of preliminary investigations." He also refers to any acquittal as a... defect in the court's work, urging judges not to issue acquittals at all. It seems that this is the direction we are heading: when a 71-year-old professor is sentenced to 12 years in a penal colony for "treason"; when an ordinary pensioner receives 7 years for anti-war posts on VK; when a screenwriter and director are sentenced to 5 years "for justifying terrorism" (for a play that previously received a prestigious theatrical award), it’s already too late to relax. But it’s crucial to think seriously about how to resist the system if you suddenly find yourself caught in its gears.
— And how exactly? What solution do you see as a professional?
— Do not pay attention to the assurances of even the most well-known lawyer that the criminal case can somehow be closed. In our reality, this is practically impossible. Those who promise such things are deliberate liars. A defender will receive a much larger fee if you are sitting in jail or under house arrest, waiting for an unjust trial, relying on legal assistance. As we remember, the likelihood of a favorable outcome is 0.33%. There is only one true path, but it is for the strong-willed. So, if you start having issues with the justice system, prepare for the worst. Therefore, you need to urgently find documentary evidence that the accusations against you are false and immediately leave the country. But do not go to just any jurisdiction; go to one where democratic principles are practiced and from where there are currently no extraditions to Russia. Today, this is quite a substantial list of countries, ranging from the entire European Union to the USA.
— Where should one not go?
— Do not, like some unfortunate clients, run headlong to the UAE or Turkey — extradition from there is more than likely; also avoid heading to Serbia, Hungary, or Slovakia, where contacts with the Russian Federation are too close. Additionally, all post-Soviet countries should be excluded due to their intergovernmental agreements on extradition. The almost predetermined high-profile extradition of the disgraced judge Elena Khakhalova from Azerbaijan is a testament to this. In general, we have helped our clients evade Interpol and extradition to their homeland in various locations: one prominent businessman, for instance, decided for some reason to hide in Senegal. He reached out to us for help only after he had already been seized, thrown into a monstrous local prison, and was being prepared for return to the arms of the Investigative Committee of Russia. Ultimately, we managed to save the man, but it required truly titanic efforts. Everything could have been a million times simpler if this person had consulted competent international law attorneys beforehand, chosen the right jurisdiction, and started gathering evidence of persecution...
— But why gather evidence of persecution if you are, conditionally, already in a democratic country from which you won't be extradited?
— I will answer your question with another question: how do you plan to legalize your stay there? A tourist visa is short-term, and what comes next? Purchasing second citizenship or a passport through investments is not a solution — they can easily be revoked, or you may not even receive them when local authorities find out you are wanted. And you will definitely be declared wanted, especially through Interpol, as Russia is still a member of this authoritative organization. And, as practice shows, the case will be presented in such a way that Interpol will issue a red notice against you, representing the highest degree of danger. Next comes arrest, detention, and non-extradition to your homeland (if you find yourself in the "right" place), and it all starts over again. Therefore, you must take another decisive step without delay — request political asylum. This is the only salvation for a citizen persecuted by their corrupt government.
— Excuse me, but if I have no ties to political activity, who would grant me such asylum?
— They will grant it — provided you meet the requirement of truly being a victim of persecution by an authoritarian state and can prove it. Political asylum is a general term for a form of international protection that victims of any form of discrimination are entitled to. Whether that discrimination is based on political, racial, religious, gender, or other grounds. For instance, recently we have increasingly defended businessmen and entrepreneurs who have faced raider attacks from various government structures. A person's assets are taken from them in a bandit-like manner, and criminal cases are initiated against them, or several cases at once — to ensure that the victim cannot resist. There is no connection to politics, yet our clients receive political asylum if they approached us in advance and followed the strategy developed for their case.
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