On 26 June, 2019, Cherie Blair CBE, QC hosted a high-profile discussion in Geneva to coincide with the 41st session of the UN Human Rights Council. The expert panel highlighted the increasing trend of business executives being arbitrarily detained and criminalisation of legitimate business activities.
Attendees from the diplomatic community, private sector, civil society and media heard about the high-profile case of Marsha Lazareva, CEO and Vice Chairman of KGL Investments. Marsha Lazareva is represented by an international legal team assembled by Crowell & Moring in Washington DC that includes Cherie Blair CBE, QC and her Omnia team as well as Jennifer Robinson of Doughty Street Chambers and 4 New Square’s Jonathan Worboys.
Ms Lazareva continues to face charges in Kuwait after being imprisoned and separated from her 4 year old son for 472 days. Her conviction, based on evidence that has since been proved to be forged, has been overturned and her sentence of 10 years imprisonment with hard labour has been quashed, yet her first witnesses were permitted to testify for the first time this week. Complaints have been filed with the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, as well as various steps being taken to resolve the case domestically in Kuwait.
The full press release for the event can be downloaded below or read here. Further information on Ms Lazareva’s case and recent developments can be found here and here.
