MOSCOW, March 11 (RAPSI) — Lawyer Oleg Krupochkin has appealed to the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation seeking to invalidate the provisions of two orders of the Interior Ministry prohibiting lawyers from bringing technical means of communication, as well as devices allowing audio and video recording, to the temporary detention centers, lawyer Igor Trunov tells RAPSI on Thursday.

In contesting the said orders the lawyer refers to the violation of Article 123 of the Russian Constitution (equality of the parties), as for investigators there is in force a simplified system of passage to the territory of detention centers, under which those are granted the right to bring and use mobile phones, while the lawyers are forced to stay in queues for hours in harsh conditions lacking opportunities to provide legal assistance to their clients.

According to the applicant, restrictions and prohibitions on bringing into detention facilities objects and things for use during meetings with suspects or accused in order to provide them with qualified legal assistance can only be introduced by a federal law, and not by a departmental regulatory legal act.

This February, the Qualification Commission of the Yaroslavl Region Bar Association established that due to Krupochkin's fault, the planned investigative actions were not carried out in a detention facility, since the lawyer, having arrived at the checkpoint at the entrance to the building, refused to hand over his mobile phone, citing the need to use it for the purpose to defend his client.

Trunov believes that an appeal of the Investigative Directorate of the Interior Ministry to the Bar Association with a proposal to bring lawyer Krupochkin to disciplinary responsibility looks like an action by an investigative body aimed at reprisals against its procedural opponent.

The lawyer appeared at the detention facility on all the appointed dates to participate in the investigation. Nevertheless, the conduct thereof was impossible for reasons beyond the lawyer's control, namely, because of the failure to comply with the requirements of the law on the part of the detention center staff, who actually blocked lawyer Krupochkin's access to the facility to participate in investigative actions, Trunov said.