In a move as unexpected as it is lawless, Crimean Tatar leader Ilmi Umerov has been deprived of his defence lawyer Nikolai Polozov. The Crimean Supreme Court under Russian occupation rejected Polozov’s appeal against a ruling allowing Polozov to be interrogated as a ‘witness’ in Umerov’s case. Any connection Polozov has with Umerov is linked with his professional role as defence lawyer and the ‘witness status’ is needed for one purpose alone, namely to prevent him from defending his client. This has now been achieved in a way that Umerov says confirms the total lawlessness of the country which has come to his land.
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A Russian lawyer Nikolai Polozov who is defending Ilmi Umerov, a former deputy chairman of the Crimean Tatars' self-governing body, the Mejlis.
