Maitre William Bourdon is a famous French lawyer who can be called both a human rights activist (who is not afraid to make political statements) and a fighter against corruption. In particular, he established the already well-known anti-corruption association Sherpa, started cases in France against several corrupt officials who head states in Africa.
As for Russian affairs, the main thing for him is the protection of Alexei Navalny, whose courage and proven — if you want, then in court (if there was a court in Russia) — the readiness to take risks for his convictions, the master, without hiding this, admires.
Maitre Bourdon and another brilliant lawyer from his bureau, Amélie Lefebvre, (Bourdon & Associés Paris office) for almost 4 years now, on a voluntary basis, they have been suing the Navalny brothers against Yves Rocher in France.
And they promise to “go to the very end” in this matter, as they are sure that a victory in France can have an impact on the fate of Alexei Navalny in Russia as well. Today, on the anniversary of Navalny's arrest, they tell Novaya Gazeta how the case is progressing and appeal to Yves Rocher's staff. .jpg» class=»SingleImage_image__3qIDn» alt=»» />
At the meeting of the Novaya columnist with William Bourdon and Amelie Lefebvre. Photo: Yuri Safronov/Novaya Gazeta
Let me remind you that it was with the “statement of a crime” sent by the head of the Russian “daughter” of Yves Rocher Bruno Leproux in December 2012 to the head of the Investigative Committee of Russia Bastrykin that the case began, as a result of which the Russian authorities managed to send Oleg first (as a hostage), and then Alexei Navalny behind bars. The guilt of the Russian authorities is understandable, and someday, let's hope, those who live will bear legal responsibility for lawlessness.
But the role of the Yves Rocher company in this matter should not be underestimated — despite the fact that the Russian authorities could use almost any excuse to imprison their main opponent, they still needed pseudo-legal grounds to carry out this dirty “mission”. In this case, the smelly case was fabricated based on a claim by a perfume company. Against whom, for this, the Navalny brothers filed a lawsuit in France for a «slanderous denunciation».
Bruno Leproux. With his statement to the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, the case against the Navalny brothers began. Photo: echo.msk.ru
In October 2021, the investigating judge in the Breton city of Van decided to close the case “for lack of corpus delicti,” but lawyers Bourdon and Lefebvre filed an appeal and are sure that there are all grounds for victory. When I asked Bourdon if there were precedents in France when a French company — willingly or unwittingly — would assist the authorities of a foreign state in some illegal business, and then be convicted in France, he replied:
» Certainly! Undertaking to help such a person as Alexei Navalny, we had to be sure that we would not harm him and that the law was definitely on our side. So: the law in this case is absolutely on our side.”
He emphasized: “Our office specializes in international criminal law. We know the question well…”
— On October 11, 2021, more than three years after Navalny filed a complaint with the court of the Breton city of Van (next to which the head office of Yves Rocher is located), the investigating judge ruled to close the case for “lack of corpus delicti.” Please explain what allows you, the defense of the Navalny brothers, to consider this decision wrong, unreasonable?
William Bourdon:The first thing I would like to say, addressing the readers of Novaya Gazeta, is that it is a great honor for us, Parisian lawyers — and for me, who has been working as a lawyer for 40 years — to defend Alexei Navalny. By the way, I had the honor and pleasure to meet him in Berlin 15 months ago — it was an amazing meeting. SingleImage_image__3qIDn» alt=»» />
Personal meeting between Alexei Navalny (center) and William Bourdon (far left). Photo from the archive of V. Bourdon
But I won't go into details. I'll tell you something else.
You know, humanity has long invented the category of «righteous». And here he is, Navalny, one of them.
And in our case, it all started with a denunciation by the head of Yves Rocher in Russia (Lepru has not worked in the company since 2013. — Ed.). It is known that this denunciation (officially it was called a «statement of a crime.» — Ed.) launched an investigation that ended with a verdict for Alexei Navalny. And we believe that the Yves Rocher company at no time could not have known about the fantastic far-fetchedness of this denunciation. And the Yves Rocher company itself then acknowledged in writing and orally that no damage had been done to it. «» />
Investigative actions with Alexei Navalny in the Yves Rocher criminal case. Photo: Evgeny Feldman/Novaya Gazeta, archive.
Amelie Lefebvre: At the same time, I note that the representative of the company also said that if she had to again conclude a contract with the company of the Navalny brothers («Glavpodpiska» — transported goods for «Yves Rocher» from 2008 to 2012 — Ed.), then they would have done it. And Yves Rocher got nothing but benefits from this collaboration. (But Oleg Navalny has already served 3.5 years in a colony on this case, and Alexei has entered the second year. — Ed.)