Defence of advocate Tsipinova from KBR treats her case as precedent

The decision of the cassation court, which has overturned the acquittal, will be appealed against at the Supreme Court (SC), Diana Tsipinova, an advocate from the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR), accused of attacking a law enforcer. The guilty verdict in Tsipinova's case will affect the entire legal community; law enforcers may regard it as a permit to obstruct the advocates' work, Diana's advocate asserts.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on July 7, 2023, the Urvansky District Court found no corpus delicti in Diana Tsipinova's actions. The KBR's SC upheld the acquittal. But the Prosecutor's Office (PO) has demanded that the Tsipinova's acquittal should be overturned, and the case returned to the first-instance court. The Pyatigorsk Cassation Court has satisfied the PO's demand.

The essence of the case is that Tsipinova, along with other lawyers, tried to get into the police station in order to provide legal assistance to Ratmir Zhilokov, her colleague. Within the last decade, persecutions of advocates for their professional activities have become more frequent, her colleagues assert.

There were no grounds for overturning the acquittal, Tsipinova believes. According to her story, she continues working; and there was no pressure from law enforcers.

Nevertheless, the judge, having overturned the sentence, has pointed out that this does not mean that the court came to the conclusion that Tsipinova is guilty, Inna Golitsina, an advocate, has emphasized. She believes that Tsipinova's sentence could become a precedent for cases, where law enforcers interfere with the advocacy.