The hopeless misery of Russian immigrants in Germany
The Russian-speaking population in Germany suffers from infringement of their civil rights by local authorities more than any other ethnic minority. Human rights lawyer Henry Murray, who defends the rights of Russian immigrants, believes that Russian immigrants in Germany find themselves in a "penal military unit," from which there is no escape.
"Why did you decide to take up human rights defense?"
"Me and my parents came to Germany in 1992. I graduated a university with a specialization in "Private International Law" and received a Master of International Law. I became interested in the subject of human rights during my studies. Just because I saw that our former compatriots, who had moved to Germany, were not protected from the arbitrariness of the authorities. Their human rights are violated in many cases.
"When we opened an office of the German League for Human Rights in Cologne (this is one of the oldest human rights organizations in Germany, it started working almost 100 years ago and was banned from 1933 to 1948), we saw that people were scared to express their views on the existent situation. They feared that they and they families could face pressure from the authorities. For example, people could be deprived of social benefits and health insurance, problems could occur at work too.
"I am convinced that there is no rule of law in Germany, unlike, for instance, in the UK, Switzerland, France and the USA. Few people know that in almost 70 years of its post-war existence, Germany has not obtained its own constitution. Even though German authorities continuously trumpet at every corner that there is constitution in Germany - it is not true. It is the temporary Basic Law from 1949 that replaces it.
"Nearly all laws in the country are aimed at protecting the government, courts and police. Federal referendums are prohibited. Litigations are extremely expensive. The government seems to grant the right for a free lawyer, but it will be a lawyer on the part of the court, and therefore, the trial will be lost in 70-80 percent of cases. A court of second instance takes place even without your participation: it is only the judge and the lawyers of the parties. That is to say, you can be convicted, even without your participation.
"Finally, the most amazing aspect is that the judge never signs the verdict personally. We have repeatedly submitted requirements to provide us with original documents, but we'd always get a copy with the name of the judge printed on it without his signature. Perhaps this is because a judge here is not an elected position as it is in other European countries. A judge is appointed by the Justice Minister of a certain territory. It is possible, though, that the main reason lies in the absence of responsibility of the state for the damage incurred by the actions of a public body or a public official. Each "official" carries responsibility by their personal property under Article 839 of the German Civil Code. Why would a judge take the risk?
"Thus, it is clear that a "sentence" without judicial signature from a legal point of view is void and completely deprived of legal force.
"What are the main challenges that you face in protecting the rights of Russian citizens?"
"One of our first high-profile cases was the defense of Eugene Skvortsov. His story is very indicative in terms of the attitude of the German judicial system to Russian-speaking citizens.
"The young man was invited to his friend's birthday on the outskirts of Düsseldorf. The company gathered in a local park. Eugene did not stay there all the time - he left to pick up his fiancé, and came back when everyone was about to leave. A police car approached the company at that moment. Several people, including Eugene, were arrested. As it turned out later, there was a fight in the park between a drunk Russian guy and police officers. However, it was Eugene Skvortsov who was charged with showing resistance to police.
"Prior to the court session, I noticed how happy police representatives and the judge were to shake hands with each other - as if they had parted only yesterday after a picnic. The interpreter, whom the court provided, was telling us all the time that we should not disturb the judge with our claims. When Eugene protested and said that he would find his own interpreter, he was denied the right to do that.
"By the way, this is a recurring problem. The court does not consider it necessary to provide an interpreter to a Russian-speaking citizen. This contradicts to the ruling of the Constitutional Court of Germany that says that the verdicts that can affect the destiny of a person should be translated simultaneously and literally. But if a person does not know his or her rights, the rights can easily be broken.
"That was the first time when I came across undisguised Russophobia on the part of authorities. One of police officers told the court that "if many Russian-speaking people gather in one place, one shall expect trouble." Russians always drink themselves into a stupor in the park, the officer added.
