Vadim Kharchenko*’s advocate lodges complaint about being prosecuted for her professional activities

Natalia Fedorenko, a defender of Gelendzhik blogger Vadim Kharchenko*, is accused of violating the privacy of one of the judges. During the consideration of a case on illegal construction, the advocate challenged the judge because he was treating his dog in a veterinary clinic located in an “illegally constructed” building. Natalia Fedorenko treats the charges against her as an attempt to deprive her of the status as an advocate.

Natalia Fedorenko is accused of violating the privacy of a judge of a court in Gelendzhik. The advocate considers the criminal proceedings against her as an attempt to deprive her of the status as an advocate in the fabricated case about her violation of the privacy of the judge of the Gelendzhik court. At the hearing of the court, the advocate represented the interests of her client on the side of the plaintiff, which was the Gelendzhik administration, in the case on the demolition of the illegally constructed building.

Natalia Fedorenko has mentioned that she is the advocate of blogger Vadim Kharchenko*. According to the advocate’s version, the criminal proceedings against her is directly related to his defence. “I joined the criminal case against Vadim Kharchenko* on February 6, 2023, when the blogger was being searched ... They immediately began to put pressure on me, but I insisted that I would provide his defence. And three months later, a criminal case was instituted against me,” the advocate reported.

According to the Natalia Fedorenko’s report, in a video, Vadim Kharchenko* showed, and she reported about the corrupt schemes for developing the resort with illegal buildings, one of which illegally houses the veterinary clinic.

“The point of my speech and recording it in the Vadim Kharchenko’s* blog was that friends of the local authorities are allowed to do everything, but ordinary people are not allowed to do anything ... Investigators considered my discovery that the judge has a Spitz dog and that she treated her pet in the illegally built clinic to be the judge’s private life,” Natalia Fedorenko reported.

A Natalia Fedorenko’s defender emphasized that there were no violations in her actions, as they were aimed at the public interest.

*Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of foreign agents.