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Pussy Riot Lawyer Disbarred for Insulting Tweets

Lawyer Mark Feygin Roman Demyanenko / TASS

Mark Feygin, a Russian lawyer who represented the band Pussy Riot and Ukrainian prisoner of war Nadezhda Savchenko, has been disbarred for inappropriate social media posts.

The Moscow Bar Association expelled Feygin for “behaving inappropriately online, disgracing the attorney community,” BBC Russia service reported, citing the attorney who filed the complaint on Tuesday.

“What else can you expect from the Russian Bar Association, bent in a bow to the Kremlin! A disgrace,” Feygin said on Twitter Tuesday.

He told the RBC business portal that a series of Twitter posts dated July 18, 2017, served as grounds for his disbarment.

Stalina Gurevich, the attorney who sought his disbarment, said Feygin’s claim that the move was politically motivated was a “lie,” BBC Russia reported.

Gurevich represented a Ukrainian journalist and blogger who reportedly won a defamation suit against Feygin last year.

Before being disbarred, Feygin represented Roman Sushchenko, a Ukrainian citizen accused of espionage against Russia. Feygin alleged that the authorities pressured him to exchange Sushchenko.

Feygin has vowed to appeal his disbarment.

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