Ukrainian prosecutors on Feb. 3 conducted a 14-hour search of the central office in Kyiv of Magisters, a leading Ukrainian law firm.
According to a statement issued by Magisters on Feb. 4, at 1:30 p.m. on Feb. 3, around 30 armed men and investigators from the General Prosecutor’s Office stormed the headquarters of Magisters located in downtown Kyiv at 38 Volodymyrska Street. Magisters said prosecutors detained the firm’s 50 lawyers and staff for six hours. The firm said “one pregnant employee was urgently rushed to hospital by ambulance during the raid.”
A Kyiv Post journalist and photographer witnessed the raid but were removed from the law firm’s office by armed police. Armed guards and prosecutors threatened a Kyiv Post photographer not to take pictures of them during the raid. Responding to Kyiv Post inquiries made by telephone, prosecutors confirmed the search had been conducted as part of an ongoing investigation. But they were not immediately able to provide further details on the matter.
Magisters said prosecutors seized documents related to a criminal investigation of the country’s state owned oil and gas company, Naftogaz. Magisters has provided legal services to Naftogaz for many years.
“We are extremely concerned with the raid of our Kyiv office by the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office on Feb. 3,” said Andrew Mac, Magisters’ managing partner in Kyiv. Magisters is a full service law firm advising leading international and domestic companies across the CIS. It has over 100 internationally trained lawyers with offices in Astana, Kyiv, London, Minsk and Moscow.
“From the perspective of rule of law, the democratic and European principles of an independent judiciary, and the independence of advocates, it is unacceptable and astonishing that the government is putting such pressure on lawyers and not allowing the office of one of the largest international law firms operating in Ukraine to function during the working day, including disabling our local servers and computer equipment, and detaining 50 Magisters’ lawyers and staff on premises without cause for such an extended period of time,” Mac added.
The Feb. 4 raid was the first physical search of Magisters’ office which involved seizure of documents and computers, but pressure has been gradually building up against the firm, according to sources.
Speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of prosecutorial repression, informed sources said that Ukrainian law enforcement officials have repeatedly interrogated and harassed the firm’s partners in recent weeks – supposedly in connection with the investigation at hand.
In addition, western diplomatic sources have confirmed that they are closely monitoring the situation in relation to the alleged harassment of the firm and its employees.
Despite these events, Magisters said in the statement that it has taken “maximum precautions according to best international practice to remain fully operational and to protect the data of our clients unrelated to the criminal case.”
“Our clients can rest assured that they will continue to receive the highest level of service, professionalism that they have been accustomed to over the last 15 years,” added Mac.
The firm said it is functioning normally on Feb. 4.
