Renata Mustafina. “Turning on the Lights? Publicity and Defensive Legal Mobilization in Protest‐Related Trials in Russia.” Law & Society Review, vol. 56, no. 4 (2022): 601-622.
This article examines how defense lawyers in contemporary Russia strategically use publicity in trials involving protesters, despite the broader context of a politicized and often predetermined legal system. Based on original ethnographic research, it reveals that publicity serves as a key tool for legal resistance against politically motivated prosecutions. Defense attorneys use inventive publicity strategies to create space for negotiation and to restrain prosecutorial power, challenging the notion that outcomes are fully decided in advance. However, the article also highlights the ambiguous relationship between publicity and legal resistance in repressive environments. Some human rights lawyers actively embrace public exposure to support their cases, while others avoid it, depending on their professional context and networks. The interaction between courtroom dynamics and public debates further shapes lawyers’ strategies. The findings offer broader insights into how lawyers operate within dual legal systems under authoritarian pressures, illustrating the complex role of attorneys as both defenders of rights and political actors in backsliding democracies.