The participants discussed the legal and social struggles before Russian citizens and companies, as well as Europeans holding political views that differ from the EU’s mainstream rhetoric.
The list of prominent speakers at the event included Alexander Korostelev (journalist and media manager), Karin Kneissl (head of the Geopolitical Observatory for Russia’s Key Issues Center and former Austrian foreign minister), Daria Pashkova-Stravinskaya (legal advisor at the Ruptly Video Agency), Denis Ulanov (Moldovan politician), Elizaveta Khudyakova (head of broadcasting legal support service at the RT TV Channel), and Tomasz Schmidt (Warsaw Voivodeship Court’s judge).
“The accused is presumed innocent until proven otherwise - that was the basic principle of criminal law laid down in the [UK's] Magna Carta in 1215. However, after the September 11 attacks [in the US], this principle was undermined, and the revelations about the Guantanamo prison put a nail in its coffin,” said Kneissl.
The participants tackled issues such as lawsuits against Google, challenging unilateral decisions on being included in sanctions lists, and the freezing of personal funds and closing one’s accounts, as well as procedural criminal law and how it has been distorted in many Western countries.