Almost Ready To Leave Kharkiv

Unfortunately, Ed misunderstood Vicky and thought that she would be able to attend the meeting that he called for all the lawyers this morning at 8:30 a.m. In fact she she had a class and could not be there. So needless to say Ed was exhausted by the time he was finished.

Gennadiy was supposed to be translating since Vicky couldn't make it, but he was, as usual, doing a thousand things at once, on his computer, on his phone, etc., as were the other lawyers - they would get phone calls on their cell phones and leave the room - there was just a total lack of discipline. As I said, Genna's English isn't that good to begin with, so for him to absorb what Ed was saying really would require his total concentration - let alone "translating" what Ed was saying for the other lawyers. I asked Ed if it wasn't Gennadiy's job to set the rules for office meetings, and that one of the rules should be all cell phones off and no one at their computers. Ed agreed, but said that Genna was not really a good "disciplinarian." Oh well, Ed and I have reached a truce when it comes to Genna and I'm not going to rock the boat.

After the meeting Ed finally got the identification of all the motions that are in Russian - each one involved a long dissertation on which of Genna's cases had required that particular motion, so it took quite a long time - plus, it turns out that there were many duplicates so I'll have to scan them in all over again because I did them in groups of 10 to cut down on the time it took (over an hour). Now they all have to be translated into Ukrainian by someone (Sasha's internship at OSJI has finished, so I don't know who will do that now), since that is the official language of the country and will be the language used by the courts in Kyiv, which is the nation's capital. They still use Russian in the Kharkiv courts.

Ed got back home at about 1 p.m. and had to leave for the dreaded meeting with Golond (it's Golond, not Golan as I had thought - the lawyer who can "talk" to judges and who arranged for the PD room in the courthouse) to tell him that the press conference was going to be very low key and that no one outside the organization was going to be there. I think the PD's office finds Golond very useful, because he can get things done, but they don't necessarily want to be publicly associated with him. So it's a good thing this press conference is turning out to be a big nothing.

Ed met Vicky at Golond's office, and she snapped this picture of Ed with Goland (on Ed's left), and the head of the bar disciplinary committee on his right. When Ed got back he told me that he now realizes why he was dreading the meeting - it involves a ritual of phoney baloney praising of each other (you know, like they do in the Senate - "well, as the most honorable and esteemed gentleman from Florida, who has very perceptively seen the issues involved, just said, blah blah blah") and drinking a lot of vodka, which you cannot refuse. Golond, who is 75 and who I think looks like a sweet New York Jew, sort of like Ed Koch or Neil Simon, hit on Vicky of course, telling her that she should come back any time, that she needn't wait for Ed to return, and the like. Ed said Vicky took it in stride and even downed a cognac or two.

So now there is nothing left for me to do here except finish up this Blog entry (maybe my last until after I return from the States on October 18, depending on how well the unpacking and connecting to the internet in Kyiv, and the repacking for the trip home, goes), throw a few final things into the suitcases, and get some sleep. Our hired minivan and driver is due to arrive at 7 a.m. (Vicky arranged it, so I'm pretty sure it will be here.) Ed will be coming back here on Sunday night for a meeting with all the judges of the Kominternovskiy court on Monday, and then a meeting on Tuesday with the head of the prison bureau to see if he will honor the permanent permission slip that allows the lawyers to visit their detained clients as often and as long as necessary. We learned last night that one of the PD lawyers, Oleg, had gotten such a permission slip signed - now they have to see if it will be recognized and honored by the guys who are in charge of letting the lawyers in to see the clients! After that meeting there will be the press conference that none of the press will attend since they already went to the press conference called by the General last Tuesday for the signing, and Ed will get the 4:30 train back to Kyiv. He's still hoping to get a meeting with the court administrator to start working out procedures for a bail system, but that hasn't been agreed to yet. On Wednesday afternoon we leave for Boston for Ed's cousin Tom's wedding in Marblehead. We'll have two full days and two nights before the rehearsal dinner to regroup and rest up and try to recover from jet lag. It's a real crunch but I am really looking forward to going home for a while, even though it will be very hard to see everyone - in fact, impossible - I will still get to see a few friends, and get some fish that isn't deep fat fried (not that I'm complaining - I love deep fat fried)!!