Ex-judge from Volgograd: I was sacked for "wrong" decision on "ordered" case

Judge Marianna Lukyanovskaya, who was dismissed from the Volgograd Regional Court, has filed a complaint to the cassation panel of the Supreme Court of Russia. It is her last resort among Russian instances to achieve restoration in her position; further, she is going to apply to Strasbourg. The judge asserts that she was sacked for making a "wrong" decision on an "ordered" case.

Ms Lukyanovskaya's conflict with her bosses started with an episode, when she released under recognizance not to leave a certain Shamaev, accused of extortion. She made this decision, as his arrest was made with remedial violations - in particular, Shamaev, who does not speak Russian, was not provided with an interpreter.

After that, Lukyanovskaya was called by the chairman of court, who said that she had made a wrong decision, and it was better for her to retire. "It turned out that it was just an ordered case," the "Bolshoy Gorod" (Big City) newspaper quotes her in today's publication.

"Our court has a practice: every Monday after lunch we gather in the office of the chairman of the criminal panel Dmitri Tulenkov and coordinate with him our positions on all the cases to be heard during the week to come. I know that this is a direct violation of the independence of the court. But this is our practice," Marianna Lukyanovskaya said earlier to the Volgograd-based edition "Vsyo Dlya Vas" (All for You).

She describes the way she was offered to retire as follows: "I was told: if you don't leave by yourself, we'll find what to sack you for. But I felt no guilt on me."

In his turn, Dmitri Tulenkov said to journalists, not even trying to hide his scandalous violations: "We discussed this issue with her, and agreed that she had to send the case to a new consideration, and not to release the suspect. Lukyanovskaya broke the established practice. But this case was just a pretext to deprive her of her powers. She admitted negligence at executing justice also earlier."