Lawyer Svetlana Sidorkina and Alexander Kolchenko. Photo: Anton Naumlyuk. All rights reserved.Russian investigators are becoming ever more skilled at prosecuting citizens for political reasons. Every new criminal case launched against Russian protesters means more experience for the law enforcement apparatus, but diminishing interest from the wider public.
Svetlana Sidorkina, a lawyer for the Agora international human rights group, has been defending people who have fallen victim to politically motivated prosecutions throughout her entire career. Sidorkina’s clients have included public figures, social commentators, political activists of various stripes, individuals who played a part in the 2012 Bolotnaya Square protests and the March 2017 anti-corruption rally, as well as those who have been imprisoned for reposting content on social media.
As part of oDR’s series on human rights lawyers in the post-Soviet space, I spoke to Svetlana Sidorkina about her career, her defendants and how Russia’s law enforcement are upping their game.
