Pavel Astakhov
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Pavel Alekseyevich Astakhov (russian: Па́вел Алексе́евич Аста́хов) (born 8 September 1966 in
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
) is a Russian
politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, ...
,
celebrity Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in spor ...
lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solicit ...
and
television personality Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...
. On 30 December 2009
Dmitry Medvedev Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev ( rus, links=no, Дмитрий Анатольевич Медведев, p=ˈdmʲitrʲɪj ɐnɐˈtolʲjɪvʲɪtɕ mʲɪdˈvʲedʲɪf; born 14 September 1965) is a Russian politician who has been serving as the dep ...
named Astakhov as the Children's Rights Commissioner for the President of the Russian Federation (
children's ombudsman A children's ombudsman, children's commissioner, youth commissioner, child advocate, children's commission, youth ombudsman or equivalent body is a public authority in various countries charged with the protection and promotion of the rights of chil ...
). He left the job in September 2016 after facing severe criticism due to his comments on the death of 14 children in a shipwreck.


Education

Astakhov graduated from the law faculty of the Dzerzhinsky KGB School in Moscow in 1991. In 2002 he received a
Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mo ...
from the
University of Pittsburgh School of Law The University of Pittsburgh School of Law (Pitt Law) was founded in 1895. It became a charter member of the Association of American Law Schools in 1900. Its primary home facility is the Barco Law Building. The school offers four degrees: Master ...
. In 2006 Astakhov received a
Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor ...
in Russia. Firstly the community
Dissernet Dissernet (russian: Диссернет) is a volunteer community network working to clean Russian science of plagiarism. The core activity of the community is conducting examinations of doctoral and habilitation (higher doctorate) theses defended ...
, then the Russian State Library tested his doctoral thesis for plagiarism and discovered that only 0.68% of the text was original work, the remainder having been copy-pasted from other sources. He speaks
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...
,
Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
,
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
, Chinese, Japanese and
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
as well as Russian.


Lawyer

Astakhov began practising law in 1991. In 1994 he became a member of the Moscow
Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar ( ...
and set up his own law firm, which has been known since 2003 as "Pavel Astakhov Lawyers Board". Astakhov represented some of Russia's most high-profile public figures, including Moscow Mayor
Yury Luzhkov Yury Mikhailovich Luzhkov ( rus, Ю́рий Миха́йлович Лужко́в, p=ˈjʉrʲɪj mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ lʊˈʂkof; 21 September 1936 – 10 December 2019) was a Russian politician who served as mayor of Moscow from 1992 to 2010 ...
, the descendants of the
Romanov dynasty The House of Romanov (also transcribed Romanoff; rus, Романовы, Románovy, rɐˈmanəvɨ) was the reigning imperial house of Russia from 1613 to 1917. They achieved prominence after the Tsarina, Anastasia Romanova, was married to ...
, several Russian
pop-star Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describe ...
s and others.


Edmond Pope

The first case which gave prominence to Pavel Astakhov was that of
Edmond Pope Edmond D. Pope (russian: link=no, Эдмонд Поуп) is a retired American intelligence officer-turned-businessman, convicted by a Russian court in 2000 on charges of spying for the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). He was sentenced to ...
. On 5 April 2000, Pope, a retired US
naval intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...
officer, was arrested in Moscow by the Russian
Federal Security Service The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) RF; rus, Федеральная служба безопасности Российской Федерации (ФСБ России), Federal'naya sluzhba bezopasnosti Rossiyskoy Feder ...
(FSB) after making contact with a Russian torpedo scientist. Pope was charged with espionage, seeking plans for the high-speed underwater
VA-111 Shkval The VA-111 ''Shkval'' (from russian: шквал, '' squall'') torpedo and its descendants are supercavitating torpedoes originally developed by the Soviet Union. They are capable of speeds in excess of 200 knots (370 km/h or 230 miles/h). ...
missile. Edmond Pope was only the second American in 40 years to stand trial for espionage in Moscow. The first,
Francis Gary Powers Francis Gary Powers (August 17, 1929 – August 1, 1977) was an American pilot whose Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Lockheed U-2 spy plane was shot down while flying a reconnaissance mission in Soviet Union airspace, causing the 1960 U-2 in ...
, the pilot of a U-2 spy plane that was shot down in 1960, was exchanged for a convicted Soviet spy,
Rudolf Abel Rudolf Ivanovich Abel (russian: Рудольф Иванович Абель), real name William August Fisher (11 July 1903 – 15 November 1971), was a Soviet intelligence officer. He adopted his alias when arrested on charges of conspiracy by ...
. In December 2000, Astakhov surprised the court hearing the case by delivering his closing arguments in verse. He read out a 12-page lyric he had composed in
iambic pentameter Iambic pentameter () is a type of metric line used in traditional English poetry and verse drama. The term describes the rhythm, or meter, established by the words in that line; rhythm is measured in small groups of syllables called " feet". "Iam ...
s, urging the court to acquit Pope. The court was not impressed by Astakhov's poetry skills and Pope received a 20-year jail sentence; he was later pardoned by Vladimir Putin and was flown back to US.


Vladimir Gusinsky

In 2000-2001 Pavel Astakhov helped Russian media tycoon
Vladimir Gusinsky Vladimir Aleksandrovich Gusinsky (russian: Владимир Александрович Гусинский, ; born 6 October 1952) is a Russian media tycoon. He founded the Media-Most holding company that included the NTV free-to-air channel, ...
to escape two fraud charges. On 13 June 2000, Gusinsky was arrested on charges of stealing property worth more than $10 million from the state-owned "Russian Video" company, but three days later, after a petition by Astakhov, Gusinsky was released on bail. Later, Astakhov and another prominent lawyer, Henri Reznik, managed to halt the criminal case against Gusinsky, who flew to Spain. Another case was opened on 17 September, alleging the embezzlement of $300 million from
Gazprom PJSC Gazprom ( rus, Газпром, , ɡɐzˈprom) is a Russian majority state-owned multinational energy corporation headquartered in the Lakhta Center in Saint Petersburg. As of 2019, with sales over $120 billion, it was ranked as the large ...
, and on 17 November prosecutors reopened the first case. Gusinsky was arrested in Spain on an international arrest warrant on 12 December. On 22 December he was released on bail of 1 billion pesetas ($5.5 million). Pavel Astakhov and Gusinsky's defence team claimed that the charges were politically motivated, and on 24 April 2001 the Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon declined to extradite Gusinsky to Russia. Following his role in the Pope and Gusinsky cases, Astakhov was invited to the US to participate in a round table organized by the
US Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washin ...
. He spent the following year in Pittsburgh completing a Master's in Law.


Saddam Hussein

In December 2003, Pavel Astakhov sent a letter to the US Embassy in Moscow, advising President George W. Bush and Ambassador Alexander Vershbow that he would like to represent the
Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
i dictator
Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolutio ...
. Asked by a reporter whether he was prepared to defend Saddam Hussein free of charge, Astakhov replied: "I do not think that the former president of
Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
will agree to accept free legal aid". Saddam Hussein, however, did not have a chance to use Astakhov's services.


TV personality and author

In 2003 Astakhov became the host of ''Chas Suda'' (''Hour of Judgment'') which aired on the
REN TV REN TV (russian: РЕН ТВ) is a Russian free-to-air television network, was founded on 1 January 1997 by Irena Lesnevskaya and her son, Dmitry Lesnevsky, who had been running REN TV as a production house for other national Russian television ...
channel. It was the first Russian judge show. Unlike ''
Judge Judy ''Judge Judy'' is an American arbitration-based reality court show presided over by former Manhattan Family Court Judge Judith Sheindlin. The show featured Sheindlin as she adjudicated real-life small-claims disputes within a simulated courtr ...
'' in the US, both parties in these trials are played by actors, with Astakhov acting as judge. The show became enormously popular and Astakhov set up a production company, Pravo TV, to make other programs with a legal theme. Astakhov is also a prolific author, writing about his experiences in the Moscow legal system, as well as producing a series of novels featuring lawyer protagonists.


Politician

In the early days of Vladimir Putin, Astakhov was a trenchant critic of the Russian authorities, accusing them of political persecution of his clients, Vladimir Gusinsky and Edmond Pope. He spoke of a "total disregard for human rights" and claimed that the prosecutors "blindly execute the wishes of the authorities". Later Astakhov made a 180-degree turn in his political affiliation and became one of the most prominent supporters of the top leadership of Russia. In November 2007 he founded and headed the national movement ''Za Putina'' (For Putin). At the founding conference, Astakhov described the aim of the new movement as follows: "Don't we choose a master in the house? Well, here we are proposing to find a master for the country."


Family

Married since
1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...
a. Spouse, Svetlana Alexandrovna Astakhova (born
September 13 Events Pre-1600 * 585 BC – Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, king of Rome, celebrates a triumph for his victories over the Sabines, and the surrender of Collatia. * 509 BC – The Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on Rome's Capitoline Hi ...
1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * J ...
) — general producer of several TV programs of her husband: "The Hour of the Trial", "Three Corners", "The Astakhov Case". Has three sons and five grandchildren. On November 21, 2022, one of the sons, Anton Astakhov, was sentenced by the Frunzensky District Court of the city of
Saratov Saratov (, ; rus, Сара́тов, a=Ru-Saratov.ogg, p=sɐˈratəf) is the largest city and administrative center of Saratov Oblast, Russia, and a major port on the Volga River upstream (north) of Volgograd. Saratov had a population of 901, ...
to 3.5 years in a general regime colony under part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (fraud committed by an organized group or on a particularly large scale). According to investigators, Anton Astakhov committed the theft of 75 million rubles from Saratov Nizhnevolzhsky Commercial Bank.


Children's Commissioner

On 30 December 2009 President Medvedev appointed Astakhov as Children's Rights Commissioner for the President of the Russian Federation, a post often referred to as
children's ombudsman A children's ombudsman, children's commissioner, youth commissioner, child advocate, children's commission, youth ombudsman or equivalent body is a public authority in various countries charged with the protection and promotion of the rights of chil ...
. At the time of his appointment, Astakhov was one of Russia's leading private lawyers, but he did not have a child welfare background. His predecessor and the first holder of the office, Alexei Golovan, had resigned unexpectedly on 26 December, just months after his appointment. (Golovan remained involved in child rights issues and was in 2012 involved in the development of legislation to protect the rights of children in orphanages.) Astakhov's critics in Russia have accused him of being an opportunist and a publicity seeker. Some child advocacy groups wished him "to pay more attention to protecting the rights of children in Russia and less to PR for himself". In April 2010 Astakhov described child advocacy groups as the "best form of legalisation of the paedophile community".


International Adoption

As ombudsman Astakhov sought to raise awareness of the welfare of Russian children
adopted Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, from ...
by foreign families. According to official Russian statistics, a total of 19 adopted Russian children had died worldwide as a result of beatings or negligence, since 1991. Some of Astakhov's critics alleged that he paid too much attention to the abuse cases after
international adoption International adoption (also referred to as intercountry adoption or transnational adoption) is a type of adoption Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or leg ...
s and not enough to child abuse cases in Russia itself, where some 2,000 children were killed every year as a result of domestic child abuse. President Medvedev told Astakhov in December 2011: "I think that we cannot make any distinction here between cases abroad and cases at home. These are all crimes, serious crimes." Astakhov was deeply involved in the preparation of the Russian-US treaty on adoption, signed by the
US Secretary of State The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's Ca ...
and the
Foreign Minister of Russia The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation is a high-ranking Russian government official who heads the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. The foreign minister is one of the five so-called 'presidential' minist ...
on 13 July 2011. This treaty bans the independent adoption of Russian children, leaving adoption through agencies as the only option. American citizens who wish to adopt a child from Russia through an agency must pay $40–50 thousand whereas for Russian citizens the procedures are completely free of charge. Moreover, adoptive parents in many Russian regions receive financial aid from the regional authorities, which sometimes amount to RUR 300 thousand (about $10 thousand) per child. President Medvedev told Pavel Astakhov on 3 December 2011: "There is nothing wrong with foreign adoptions of our children... the fact that foreign citizens do it does not tarnish them in any way, and on the contrary shows their desire to help these children." However, two weeks later, at
Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
's annual question and answer session with the public, broadcast live across Russia, Astakhov declared himself "an absolute opponent of international adoption" and asked Putin to change the law and to ban all international adoptions in Russia. "We must, as much as possible, keep our children in our country," Astakhov said in April 2010. In April 2012 Astakhov suggested that Russian citizens should apply to adopt US children, although there were still 665,987 orphans in Russia itself according to the latest statistics and the number of adoptions in Russia had been falling each year since 2007. In February 2012 Astakhov announced that in the next 5–8 years most of Russian
orphanage An orphanage is a Residential education, residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the Childcare, care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared for by their biological families. The parent ...
s and
boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...
s would be shut down, and their residents adopted by Russian foster families. He said that more state funds "should be allocated to foster families" to "give a fresh impetus to foster parents to adopt a child... Russia without Orphans slogan should become one of the top priorities for the government and public servants". Some experts, however, pointed out that Astakhov's reliance on financial incentives had led to an increasing number of children being returned to orphanages. According to the report of the chairwoman of the Russian parliamentary committee on family and children
Yelena Mizulina Yelena Borisovna Mizulina (russian: Елена Борисовна Мизулина, born December 9, 1954) is a Russian politician and lawyer. She served as a member of the State Duma between 1995 and 2003 and again between 2007 and 2015, and ha ...
in April 2010, thousands of children had been taken in by foster parents for financial reasons, and subsequently rejected after the financial assistance had been paid. Mizulina said that 30,000 children had been sent back to institutions by their Russian adoptive, foster or guardianship families in the last three years: "Specialists call such a boom in returns a humanitarian catastrophe". Despite the grave Russian domestic statistics of disruption of adoptions, Pavel Astakhov drew media attention to the case of a 7-year-old, Artem Saveliev (Justin Hansen), who was adopted in 2009 by the Tennessee nurse Torry Hansen, but in April 2010 was sent back to Russia with a note saying that he was "mentally unstable". Astakhov used this case to call for more restrictions on international adoptions in Russia.


Child Marriage

In 2015, Astakhov defended the marriage of a 47-year-old police chief to 17-year-old Luiza "Kheda" Goilabiyeva in
Chechnya Chechnya ( rus, Чечня́, Chechnyá, p=tɕɪtɕˈnʲa; ce, Нохчийчоь, Noxçiyçö), officially the Chechen Republic,; ce, Нохчийн Республика, Noxçiyn Respublika is a republic of Russia. It is situated in the ...
. There were widespread reports that Goilabiyeva had been threatened with kidnap and violence if she did not agree to marry Nazhud Guchigov, though she later gave an interview with LifeNews where she stated that she had married Guchigov of her own free will. Although the marriage contravened Russian laws on polygamy and the legal age of adulthood, Astakhov defended the marriage, saying that "sexual maturity happens earlier n the Caucasus and "there are places where women are already shriveled at age 27, and by our standards they look like they're 50." His comments prompted many women to post photographs of their wrinkles under the hashtag #сморщеннаяженщина (#wrinkledwoman). The focus of the issue has since become child marriage, with Astakhov asserting that "you should not be worried about early marriages … but about the early sex life of teenagers. The two need to be kept separate. Romeo and Juliet dreamed of getting married, not of intimate relations."


See also

* Rantala incident *
Anton incident Anton Salonen (russian: Антон Салонен; born 3 October 2003) is a child with Russian-Finnish dual citizenship involved in an international child custody dispute between his parents. The Finnish-born child was first Child abduction, abd ...


References


External links


Official website
of the Russian Children's Rights Commissioner * {{DEFAULTSORT:Astakhov, Pavel 1966 births Living people 1st class Active State Councillors of the Russian Federation Children's Ombudsmen Ombudsmen in Russia Russian politicians Lawyers from Moscow Russian television personalities University of Pittsburgh School of Law alumni REN TV