Shutov was convicted to life in prison on criminal charges that have been allegedly fabricated to punish him for making public accusations of Putin.
[1] On February 16, 1999, Shutov was stripped of parliamentary immunity and arrested on fabricated charges of murdering prominent Russian politicians Mikhail Manevich and Galina Starovoitova.
[1] Although the Russian Supreme Court ruled that detention of Shutov was illegal and he was reelected to the Saint Petersburg Legislative Assembly (a city parliament) in 2002, he was shuttled during 7 years between different prisons, and finally sentenced to life imprisonment on February 16, 2006, for organizing murders of businessmen (the charges of murdering Starovoitova were dropped).
Mr. Shutov draws attention upon "unfair trial on account of their removal from the courtroom for the entire duration or part of the proceedings".
He alleges that his absence from the courtroom was not remedied by the presence of his legal counsel as the court ignored or dismissed his requests, "pressured the counsel by applying for withdrawal of their license, stripped them of all electronic devices crucial for their work and effectively eliminated the possibility to consult with their clients by holding almost daily hearings".
[3] Mr. Shutov complaints that "following his removal from the courtroom he was not aware of the charges against him, could not prepare his defence and could not examine the witnesses"; that "he could not defend himself in person because he was not present either at the trial or at the appeal hearing and that the court did not allow him to retain different legal counsels following termination of his contract with the previous ones".