The Russian State is continuing to persecute Mr Pugachev by manipulating the English legal system.
On October 23 2018 London’s High Court heard the latest stage of the Russian state’s case against Mr Pugachev.
The hearing took place despite the fact that at the moment there is no ruling of the Russian court against Mr Pugachev that has any legal force. This means that the Russian state – and the lawyers representing it in England through Hogan Lovells International LLP law firm — do not have any right to file any lawsuits or applications based on the decisions of the Russians courts in any other jurisdiction.
Moscow’s Arbitration Court has already issued a ruling that cancelled a previous decision finding Mr Pugachev responsible for the bankruptcy of Mezhprombank — a position that has been upheld by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation must now issue a separate judicial order confirming the cancellation of the ruling against him, and Mr Pugachev filed an application with the Supreme Court to do so in September 2018.
The judge hearing the case on October 23 had given Mr Pugachev permission ahead of time to take part in the hearing via videolink from France, where he is now resident, and Mr Pugachev had made all the necessary technical checks in preparation. Despite all these efforts, it was not possible to make a connection with the court on October 23. For an hour, the English court said technical problems were to blame for the lack of connection. But later Judge Price’s clerk, Nichola Pierce, admitted that Judge Price at the last minute – after he had read Mr Pugachev’s statement of defense sent to the court – took the decision not to allow Mr Pugachev to participate in the hearing. During the hearing, Judge Price said that he had acquainted himself with Mr Pugachev’s position and “did not find anything useful in it for the court”. (The Guardian)
In the view of Mr Pugachev and his lawyers, these actions by the English court violate his right to a fair trial under Article 6 of the Convention on Human Rights.
The decision of the English court will be appealed.
Press service of Sergei Pugachev