Spanish police detained nine people in Madrid in mid-November, including Alexander Gofshtein, a lawyer for bankrupt Russian oil company Yukos, who had traveled from Moscow to Spain for a meeting in the Soto del Real prison with his client, Zakhar Kalashov, a purported Georgian mafia boss convicted of money laundering.
"We expected such a decision, so we will turn to an appeal court within five days," said Padva, who is also a defense lawyer for ex-Yukos head Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a Kremlin opponent serving a prison term in Siberia for fraud and tax evasion.
The lawyer said that although the period for consideration of appeals was indefinite under Spanish law, in practice the process takes a month to six weeks.
Spanish police said earlier in a press release that Gofshtein was arrested as part of a large-scale operation codenamed Operacion Avispa (Operation Hornet) targeting Russian and Georgian mafia members operating in the country, on a warrant issued by Spain's Audiencia Nacional, the national high court.
Police said Gofshtein brought money to his jailed client, Kalashov, whose criminal organization made large sums from criminal operations in Moscow, including illegal gambling, kidnapping and extortion, and then invested them in Spanish real estate, restaurants and other assets.
Padva in December accused Spanish authorities of "disrespect for Russia," saying international principles regarding confidential meetings between client and counsel, and a lawyer's right to free movement and immunity had been violated with Gofshtein's arrest.
Genri Reznik, the head of the Moscow Bar, said Russian law enforcement agencies could have been involved in Gofshtein's detention.
He said representatives of law enforcement agencies visited Spain 10 days before the arrest, and could have handed over documents or information "casting a shadow on our colleague" to Spanish authorities, because Gofshtein had in the past secured many not-guilty verdicts, thereby discrediting prosecutors and their investigations.
