Prominent Russian Lawyer Feigin Disbarred

The Moscow Chamber of Attorneys has disbarred prominent lawyer Mark Feigin for allegedly unethical behavior.

The lawyer said he considers the April 24 decision to be politically motivated and plans to appeal against it.

The decision comes after lawyer Stalina Gurevich demanded that Feigin be deprived of his status for violating the norms of the lawyers' code of ethics by using obscene vocabulary on social media against his colleagues and their clients.

Gurevich called allegations that the decision was politically related "a lie."

Feigin has defended the punk protest band Pussy Riot and Nadia Savchenko, the Ukrainian airwoman who spent nearly two years in Russian captivity, in politically sensitive cases.

He is also defending Ukrainian journalist Roman Sushchenko, who is on trial in Moscow on espionage charges.

Based on reporting by the BBC Russian, TASS, and Interfax