The Qualification Commission of the Bar Association of the Tyumen Region has stripped Alexey Ladin of his lawyer status. He defended Crimean Tatar activists and captured Ukrainians in the annexed Crimea. This was reported by the public movement «Crimean Solidarity».
The reason for depriving him of his lawyer status was two reports that were drawn up against Ladin in 2023 due to his Facebook posts — about «discrediting» the army (20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses) and displaying prohibited symbols (part 1 of article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses). According to the members of the commission that made the decision, Ladin violated lawyer ethics.
On October 13, 2023, Ladin was detained after a search was conducted at his home in Sevastopol. Later, under the report on prohibited symbols, he was sentenced to 15 days of arrest, and in the case of «discrediting» — a fine of 45 thousand rubles.
The first protocol against the lawyer was drawn up due to 2018 posts with photographs of drawings made by his client. The images included fragments of the Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar coats of arms with the slogan «We are not terrorists and not extremists», as well as the «tarak-tamga» symbol, which the court considered a sign of the banned paramilitary formation «Crimean Tatar Volunteer Battalion «Noman Celebidzhihan».
The reason for drawing up the second protocol was a repost of a publication that said that the Russian army was using cluster munitions to bomb Kharkov.
After Ladin's arrest, the Crimean Ministry of Internal Affairs demanded that he be stripped of his license to practice law. In January 2024, the persecution of the lawyer was condemned by six international bar associations, including the International Bar Association Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI).