Lawyers in Yakutian village refuse to represent woman who reported assault by official
Maria, a resident of the village of Verkhnevilyuysk in Yakutia, accused her former partner, Yegor Mikhaylov, the deputy head of the local administration, of beating her and attempting to rape her.
According to the human rights project "You are not alone, Yakutia is with you," doctors confirmed that the young woman had numerous bruises, a black eye, and constant pain in the temple area. This led to the initiation of a criminal case for threats of murder or inflicting grievous bodily harm, which was subsequently assigned to the Investigative Committee.
No lawyer in Verkhnevilyuysk agreed to take on the case. Human rights defenders had to search for an attorney for Maria in Yakutsk.
"The aggressor is actively defending himself; he has hired a powerful lawyer and does not admit his guilt," wrote the project's representatives.
Maria is currently on maternity leave with her 1-year-old child and cannot afford to pay for a lawyer. The project "You are not alone, Yakutia is with you" paid for her MRI and launched a fundraising campaign to collect 100,000 rubles for her legal defense.
The "You are not alone, Yakutia is with you" project emerged in late 2023 after the brutal murder of another local woman, Nadezhda Ammosova. She was lured into an apartment by her boyfriend and his friend, who spent several hours beating and torturing her to death, and then tried to hide the body.
The project’s activists provide psychological and legal aid, highlight cases of violence, and disseminate information on how to support victims.