PRESS RELEASE FROM THE BATONNIER DE PARIS
This Monday, February 17, Olivier Cousi, Bâtonnier of Paris, received Juan Branco, lawyer for Piotr Pavlenski. At the end of the day, a press release was published. Here’s what you can read:
“At the end of the interview with Juan Branco, Olivier Cousi explained that ‘it is normal for a lawyer to come to see his president of the bar when he encounters an ethical problem’. He also recalled that “a lawyer is free to defend himself. He alone must make a conscientious and ethical assessment if he can and should continue to defend a client. His decision is made in the light of the circumstances of the case, his personal questioning and the conditions under which he intervenes. ‘
The President of the Paris Bar said that, as the file stands, I do not have enough information to make a decision on the prosecution by Mr. Juan Branco of the defense of Mr. Pavlenski.
This is why, the president of Paris decided to open an ethical investigation to determine if Juan Branco is able, taking into account the elements of the file not known to date, to assist Piotr Pavlenski in the best of his interests. “The question that arises is whether he can, in his capacity as a lawyer, pursue in the interest of his client and in compliance with the rules of the profession the defense of Mr. Pavlenski. We will study this question” , concludes Olivier Cousi.
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