He also worked the well known Gutierrez case in Guatemala, which involved representing the victims of one of the country's largest alleged tax fraud and money laundering schemes.
[5][6] Amsterdam would go on to represent political prisoners, democracy advocates and other leaders such as Eligio Cedeño in Venezuela, Nigeria's Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai and Singapore's Dr. Chee Soon Juan, among others.
[7][8] In 2003, Amsterdam was retained to defend Yukos CEO and Russia's wealthiest man Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who was also described as Russian President Vladimir Putin's primary opponent.
[14] In May 2010, former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra hired Amsterdam to serve as international lawyer and advisor to the defence counsel of the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD, or the "Red Shirts").
While the government has cited the UOC's alleged ties to the Russian Orthodox Church, Amsterdam has denied those links and characterised the efforts as contrary to the freedom of religion and aimed at establishing an authoritarian state.