MOSCOW, September 19 (RAPSI) - The qualifications commission of the Moscow Bar Association has postponed until October 2 the consideration of Pussy Riot member Yekaterina Samutsevich's request to strike her former attorneys Mark Feygin and Nikolai Polozov off the roll, Polozov wrote on his Twitter account.
Samutsevich complained to the board, that the lawyers have provided substandard service and violated client-attorney privilege.
According to Samutsevich's statement, Feygin and Polozov published her letters without permission, acted not for her benefit and spreaded calumnies in media.
Earlier, the disciplinary committee of the Moscow Bar Association has terminated the proceeding in the case of the lawyers "for absence of the justifiable ground." Final decision must be then delivered by the Board of Association.
Pussy Riot member has also asked to strike her former lawyer Violetta Volkova off the roll. The Board of the Moscow Region law chamber will consider this issue on September 25.
In February 2012, five young women wearing brightly colored balaclavas staged a punk rock prayer in Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral. An edited video of their performance was posted on the Internet and caused a public outcry.
In August 2012, the Khamovnichesky District Court in Moscow sentenced Samutsevich and two other Pussy Riot members - Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina - to two years in a prison settlement for hooliganism.
In October 2012, the Moscow City Court changed Samutsevich's verdict to a suspended sentence and released her immediately based on her new attorneys' argument that she had been seized by security guards prior to reaching the altar.
The sentences of Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova were upheld. In April 2013, the Zubova Polyana District Court in Mordovia rejected Tolokonnikova's request for parole. Alyokhina's request for parole was rejected by the Berezniki court on May 23.
The three women were represented in court by Volkova, Nikolai Polozov and Mark Feygin. Shortly before her appeal was considered by the court, Samutsevich rejected Volkova's services. Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina also replaced their lawyers later when they were already in custody.