KONSTANTIN A. MUSMAN

Attorney at Law; Chairman of the Board of Administration of the Human Rights Fund; Accredited by the Academy of the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation; Associate Professor; Leading law expert for many news agencies within the Russian Federation; Workgroup manager for the publication in Russia of Judicial Opinions of the UN Commission on Human Rights

Specialization: Criminal Cases of Varying Magnitudes - Bank Fraud; Cyber Crime; International Extradition; Organized Crime Groups; Gangsterism; Extortion; Murder; Contraband; Medical Cases; Corruption Within Government Agencies; Abuse of Power By Government Officials; Public Legislation; Wills & Estates; Tax Disputes; Obtaining Russian Citizenship; Pension Disputes for Citizens of the Former USSR

All of the Fund staff (including attorneys, professors, and analysts) is ready to provide assistance with your criminal case. We pledge to defend your rights during the preliminary investigation, during the initial court case, throughout the appeals process, and while in the custody of the authorities. We prepare documents and briefs to be heard before the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, and the European Court on Human Rights. Representation within the former Soviet Union and abroad.

  The cases that I have worked on have been published by various mass media outlets and are topics of discussion and commentary among the leading legal scholars in the Russian Federation.  

In recognition of my work within the Russian Federation, the leading Swiss encyclopedia “Who is Who in Russia” has published my biography in 2008 and awarded me a certificate for the aforementioned work. Available on the website - http://www.whoiswho-verlag.ru/strony/z/kundenbereich/70.php.

Selected Cases

• An unprecedented criminal case involving Mr. O., a resident of the Republic of Latvia, in which he was charged with embezzlement via fraud of $16,000,000 USD from Gem-Bank in Belarus. This was a “political” case brought forth by the highest authorities in the Belarusian government. An international warrant was issued for the defendant and he was taken into custody by authorities on Russian territory. The Belarusian government requested from Russian authorities that Mr. O. be handed over for trial in Belarus for his illegal activities. The position of the defense is as follows: The defendant is not guilty of the charges and is a victim of Belarusian political repression; and as such, cannot be handed over to Belarusian authorities. The Pskov Regional Court found that the defendant should be released from custody. The office of the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation rejected the claim of the Belarusian side, as the defendant is a citizen of Russia, as per the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation. As a result the international warrant issued for Mr. O. was rescinded.
• A criminal case involving Mr. C., a citizen of the United States of America. Mr. C. was the director of mergers and acquisitions for Golden Teleservices Inc. and was charged with committing economic crimes within the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan and as a result, the Kazakh authorities requested he be extradited to Kazakhstan to stand trial. In order to comply with Kazakhstan’s extradition request, Mr. C. was held illegally by Russian authorities in the city of Blagoveschensk for ten (10) months. The legitimacy of the defendant’s incarceration and the deputy prosecutor general’s decision to extradite a citizen of the United States was at issue and was the basis for his defense. Due to my efforts on behalf of Mr. C., a judicial precedent has been set by the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation as of 1 March 2007 (see № 333-О-П). It was held that the incarceration of Mr. C. on Russian territory is illegal. A complaint with the European Court on Human Rights about illegal incarceration without judicial sancti on of the Russian court is being prepared, citing a violation of article 5 of the European Convention on Basic Human Rights. The Court in Kazakhstan ruled that Mr. C. is not guilty and was completely exonerated.
• A criminal case involving an ex-minister of road construction for a subject territory of the Russian Federation. He is accused of exceeding the authority given to him by his office, fraud and illegal business activity. The case was dismissed prior to trial.
• A criminal case involving a member of an organized crime group in which the defendant was partly exonerated by the Moscow City Court. The sentence handed down by the court was subsequently commuted.
• A criminal case involving a defendant accused of economic espionage in the interests of a third-party nation, as per article 202a of the Criminal Code of Germany. The defense was able to prove that the charges against the defendant, a Russian citizen on a business trip in Germany, were without merit, as there was no evidence that a crime had been committed. The charges were dropped by the prosecution before trial. The defendant was not held in custody, despite the severity of charges brought forth by the prosecution.
• One of the more noteworthy cases in Russia’s more recent criminal history several people, accused by Irkutsk regional the prosecutor’s office of a wide range of crimes. Among the crimes they are charges with are: organization of a criminal enterprise; gangsterism; murder; illegal sale of firearms; assault, battery, and racketeering, among others. According to the prosecution, defendant “B” is accused of organizing and leading a criminal group that was active in the cities of Bratsk, Irkutsk and Angarsk. Defendant “B’s” group was included in the so called “Bratsk criminal society”, according to the prosecutor. According to the defense, the existence if such a criminal group is a fabrication of the prosecutor’s office. Such is the position of my colleague in this case S.V. Belyak, who is the personal attorney for Vladimir Zhirinovsky and one of the most famous lawyers in Russia. The court agreed with the defense’s position. According to the defense, the prosecution did not meet its burden of proof and the methods used by the prosecution to obtain evidence against the defendant were unsavory. As we discovered during the course of the investigation the other defendants in this case were subjected to torture. After this torture, one of the defendants was found hanging in his cell. The circumstances of this hanging remain unclear. The defense is trying to bring charges against the police for this murder. Among the evidence the prosecution presented is testimony of criminals already serving sentences for vaArious crimes in exchange for preferential treatment of reduced sentences. Some witnesses for the prosecution, compelled to testify by the local Organized Crime Police Unit, have had to ask Moscow and international groups for protection out of fear for their lives, safety, their business, and their property. A colonel in the local police department obtained evidence against one of the defendants through torture, use of force, false information, blackmail, and fraud. Since the office of the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation refuses to act, the defense is preparing a brief for the European Court on Human Rights and the Council of Europe. The case is currently being heard by the Irkutsk Regional Court. The defense has collected irrefutable evidence of the fascist methods used by the authorities in conducting their case.
• A criminal case involving Mr. Sh., an attorney for a major Russian company that was charged with attempted real estate fraud on land in “Rublyovka” – (an affluent Moscow neighborhood). The defense presented evidence of not only Mr. Sh.’s innocence of any crime, but also that no crime was committed at all. A detective from the Odintsovo Internal Affairs Division of the Moscow Region determined that this matter should be closed, however, certain “corrupt” elements are hindering this case’s closure. The defense has filed grievances with the office of the President of the Russian Federation, as well as, with other agencies and is requested that charges be brought against those responsible for initiating criminal proceedings against Mr. Sh.
• Fabricated charges were filed by a law enforcement agency I Russia against Mr. Z., a prominent attorney within the Russian Federation, and as a result of those charges, Mr. Z. became a victim of harassment and persecution by said agency. Thanks to the collective efforts of Mr. Belyak, myself and the deputy Speaker of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, we were able to prove Mr. Z.’s innocence.

My teacher’s credo: «Do not belive that importunately show to you, search for that from you carefully hide and then the fruitless task will be doomed to success»

 

«Let the Law help you»

Best regards, Konstantin Musman