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Wednesday, April 13, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Looking
Outward
Dan Glode
Columnist
yuri Schmidt
1937-2013
There are two reasons I
want to tell you about one
of the most remarkable peo-
ple I have ever met — Yuri
Schmidt. One reason is his
story needs to be told and
remembered, and the other
is I made a promise to him
in 2006 and am keeping that
promise.
Yuri was a human rights
lawyer in the Soviet Union
and after the fall of the Soviet
state. There are few places
more challenging to be a
human rights attorney than
what was the Soviet Union
and now Russia. Many of
his colleagues were killed
(and are being killed) speak-
ing out as he did his entire
life. He represented many
people who had their human
rights violated; most nota-
bly Mikhail Khodorkovsky,
the Yukos Oil CEO who
opposed Vladimir Putin and
was arrested and charged
with tax evasion and sent to
a prison in remote Siberia.
Yuri headed his legal team.
When I met him he was in
the throes of that representa-
tion and was trekking off to
Siberia every week or two to
consult with his client.
Yuri grew up in St.
Petersburg and lived there
until he died after a pro-
longed battle with cancer.
His father spent 27 years in
prison as a political dissi-
dent and his mother lived in
a self-imposed exile after his
imprisonment. Yuri quali-
fied for medical school as a
young man, but his father’s
political imprisonment wor-
ried the authorities so he
was only allowed to become
a criminal defense attor-
ney as they thought that
would be less harmful to the
government.
They certainly got that
one wrong.
I worked for the American
Bar Association’s Central
European and Eurasian Law
Initiative program between
2004-08, and in 2006 we had
nominated Yuri for an award
for Human Rights Advocate
of the Year. He could not
make the formal presenta-
tion due to an illness (I did
not know at the time of his
cancer battle) so arrange-
ments were made for me to
go to St. Petersburg later in
the year and present it to him
in front of the St. Petersburg
Bar Association.
I was the only American
present at that award
banquet.
I will never forget the
magnanimity in Yuri’s
acceptance speech. First he
got up and spoke of each of
the 10 young lawyers who
worked in his human rights
law firm. He gave very
specific praise to each and
called them “diamonds” in
his life. He then went around
the room and praised those
lawyers he knew in very spe-
cific terms, citing ways they
had advanced the practice
of law while naming spe-
cific accomplishments for
each. The words he had for
his wife, children and grand-
children put a lump in my
throat. Not once did he even
hint at his accomplishments,
but thanked people for the
positive influence they gave
to his life and the wonder-
ful place they had brought
him. He was a gentlemen’s
gentleman.
It was close to 1 a.m.
when the last guest left and
Yuri called me to the head
table to talk. I will never
forget that night. There
we were: Yuri, me and my
interpreter and no one else.
Yuri said there were things
he wanted to tell me and
asked that when I returned
to the U.S. I talk of these
things since he believed the
world was largely silent on
and ignorant of what was
happening in modern-day
Russia.
He talked a great deal of
Vladimir Putin and all he
had done to repress freedom
at all levels. Political opposi-
tion — i.e. enemies of Putin
and United Russia — were
prosecuted and persecuted.
Opponents were harassed
and intimidated at best and
assassinated at worst. Non-
governmental organizations
(NGOs), particularly those
dealing with human rights
issues, were either sent pack-
ing or saddled with onerous
registration requirements.
Many picked up their tents
and left Russia. They were
and are labeled “foreign
agents” and treated as such.
The media had become a
political arm of the state.
Every time opposition voices
were heard above the din
means were taken to either
remove or intimidate them.
Freedom of assembly was so
overburdened with rules and
regulations public protest
was squelched.
He cited his client,
Mikhail Khodorkovsky, as an
example. He had announced
his intention to run for presi-
dent against Putin. Soon
thereafter he was slapped
with serious, trumped-up
criminal charges, quickly
convicted without real proof
and sent to prison in Siberia
as the government didn’t
want to grant him sainthood
by killing him. The law in
Russia is that prisoners were
supposed to be imprisoned
close to their home so fam-
ily could visit. Not so in
this case. Yuri said he had
to take a three-hour plane
ride, then a half-day train
ride followed by a two hour
car ride to consult with his
client. He was barely given
time to talk to him when he
arrived. Khodorkovsky has
since been released and lives
in London.
Yuri was a beacon of hope
and truth. He was a lonely
but persistent voice for free-
dom. I walked him to his taxi
as the sun came up and when
he shook my hand he told me
he very well might be killed
and it was important people
know what was going on.
He was not concerned for
himself but for Russia since
there were fewer and fewer
voices speaking out.
By telling Yuri’s story
here in Sisters I think I am
continuing to keep my prom-
ise to him. Rest in peace
Yuri, you are missed more
than you can imagine.