Who is Thierry Clerc, the lawyer for Russian Vladimir Martus, being is in breach of European sanctions?

The attempt by the Russian Vladimir Martus, frauding European sanctions, to use Thierry Clerc, a well-known lawyer at the Rouen Bar, as a tool for blackmail against ‘No Shtandart In Europe’, provocated a legitimate wave of indignation on social media. While we are grateful for these expressions of solidarity, we would urge everyone to be measured and courteous, as being factual. One of the Kremlin’s objectives is to fracture Western societies by creating resentment, hatred and discord.

In order to contribute to the serenity of the debate, the media, the members of the ‘No Shtandart In Europe’ collective and the general public will find here the information, which is not yet exhaustive, that we have collected on the Norman legal counsel, hostage of a flagship of the deadly Russian imperialism.

Readers are invited to take part in the discussion by commenting at the bottom of this article.

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1. Thierry Clerc and his law firm, Clerc Avocats, Clerc & Partners

2. The lawyer Thierry Clerc, maritime events and Russian ships

Appendices

• ‘Semaine du Golfe’ letter, May 15, 2023, from Clerc Avocats (Fr)
• Twitter

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1. Thierry Clerc and his law firm, Clerc Avocats, Clerc & Partners

1.1. Presentation

Based in Mont-Saint-Aignan, Thierry CLERC is a member of the Rouen Bar Association.

Mr CLERC’s scope of practice ranges from advisory services, such as legal consultations, to representation in legal proceedings, including the handling of all formalities relating to each case.

Mr CLERC places particular emphasis on listening and dialogue, helping you to assert your rights in complete confidentiality and legal certainty.

🏢 Office : CLERC THIERRY
📍 9 rue Pierre Gilles de Gennes 76824 MONT ST AIGNAN CEDEX

🤝 Office meeting – Time: 60 min – 260 € incl. VAT
📞Phone consultation – Time: 10 min – €260 inc.
❓Simple question – Concise answer to your question (less than 1,000 characters) – 40 € incl. VAT
👥 Written consultation – Study of your file + possibility of adding an attachment – 260 € TTC

Source : consultation.avocat.fr

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1.2. ‘Clerc Avocats’ – ‘Clerc & Partners’, staff and network

According to the introduction on the ‘Clerc Avocats’ firm’s home page:

Clerc Avocats is a firm dedicated to business law, in the broadest sense. It is formed of Lawyers registered at the Rouen Bar and the Paris Bar, who exercise their functions as close as possible to the interests of their Clients, in France and/or abroad.

https://www.tclerc-avocats.fr/en/home-2/

However, on 16/11/2024, on the page of the same website presenting the team, we learn that it is made up of a single lawyer, Thierry Clerc, a member of the Rouen Bar, an assistant, Corinne Bazatte, and a legal translator, Célia Taylor. It is also announced that the firm has been a partner of ‘Zumpano Patricios’, based in Coral Gables, Florida, since 2012.

‘Zumpano Patricios’ announces:

Thierry Clerc is an Attorney Coordinator for Zumpano Patricios’s Satellite Office in Paris, France. Mr. Clerc is a partner with the law firm of IFL Avocats in Paris, France.

‘Zumpano Patricios’ states that its satellite office in Paris is ‘Clerc Avocats’, 19 avenue Rapp.

However, on 16/11/2024, at 19 avenue Rapp, Paris, the firm ‘Clerc Avocats’ was not found but the firm ‘IFL Avocats’. And Thierry Clerc is not part of the team exhibited by ‘IFL Avocats’. On the ‘IFL Avocats’ website, ‘Zumpano Patricios’ is not one of the networks listed either.

Nevertheless, on 16/11/2024, on his LinkedIn page in French, Thierry Clerc announces that he is a lawyer at ‘IFL-Avocats’.

On his LinkedIn English page, as of 16/11/2024, Thierry Clerc is founder of the International Business Group (IBG) of ‘Eurojuris’ and owner of the law firm ‘Clerc & Partners’.

According to manageo.fr, Thierry Clerc law firm has one or two employees. According to predictice.com, it has one member. According to pappers.fr, it has zero employees (2024 data).

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1.3. An unusual business segment

Thierry Clerc and the ‘Eurojuris Sports Events Group’, 2015

We believe that we can support organizers and add expertise in the different kind of legal issues related to all types of big events. Sport events like Olympic Games, World and Continental Championships, World Cups and similar.

There are definitely a lot of legal issues that have to be taken care of. Briefly we mention some of such issues:

• Immaterial Property (IP) rights
• Land management
• Financial protection and insurance
• Contract work (venues, FNB, transportation, accommodation, sponsors, etc.)
• Procurement law and procedures
• General organizational issues

It is our primary goal to offer services supplementary to Organizing Committee’s (OC) local legal advisors, but we can also assist you as legal advisors directly linked to the Organizing Committee.

https://lawfirm.at/app/uploads/SportsEventGroup.pdf

ACTIVITY (of Thierry Clerc) IN THE FIELDS OF SPORTS & EVENT ORGANIZATION

• Legal assistance as part of the organization of tennis tournaments, marathons, 1 stage of the Tour de France
• Legal assistance as part of golf club development (Articles of Association, contracts)
• Legal assistance as part of the organization of tall ship meetings In Rouen ( Normandy) (Armada) and Brest (Brittany) since 1987, as well as in Dunkirk, Toulon (Cote d’Azur) and Barcelona (Spain) in 2013, i.e. a total of 14 events over more than 25 years, gathering several million people at each event.

https://lawfirm.at/app/uploads/SportsEventGroup.pdf

On 3 April 2017, Thierry Clerc was elected to the executive committee of the French Golf Federation (Fr).

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2. The lawyer Thierry Clerc, maritime events and Russian ships

2.1. Thierry Clerc and the registration of the trademark ‘Les voiles du siècle’ for ‘L’Armada Rouen’, May 1999

In 1999, Thierry Clerc registered a trademark for the tall ships festival, ‘L’Armada de la liberté’, Rouen.

Below, a demonstration on February 18, 2023 against the illegal commercial performance of the Shtandart at “Armada Rouen 2023”.

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2.2. The « Clerc & Partners » firm supporting the tall ship ‘Sedov’ seized by a Swiss creditor of the Russian state, summer 2000

During the Brest and Douarnenez 2000 maritime festivals, the tall ship ‘Sedov’ was seized in favour of a Swiss creditor of the Russian state. Thierry Clerc took a stand on behalf of the Russian vessel, as reported in the newspaper Le Parisien: ‘The ‘Sedov’ is only entitled to one escapade at sea’ (Fr).

The Russian authorities considered that the obligation to have the ‘Sedov’ escorted by the French navy was infamous, before agreeing to allow the world’s largest sailing ship to sail under ‘probation’. ‘We had to discuss how to put in place the guarantees provided by the Brest Regional Court concerning the possible escort of the vessel by the French navy’, explains Thierry Clerc, lawyer for the organisers of the rally…

After bitter negotiations, the rector of Murmansk Technical University, the titleholder of the yacht, finally agreed to the presence on board of two representatives of the French navy. But there was no question of surveillance. As Mr Clerc explained, the two officers left their uniforms ashore and officially only came on board for a simple ‘liaison mission’….

‘There’s no question of us abandoning Sedov once the festive season is over’, said Thierry Clerc in a supportive tone.

Le Parisien (Fr), 17/07/2000

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2.3. « Clerc Avocats » and the commercial performance of Russian tall ships at the ‘Fêtes maritimes de Brest 2016’

A little more than two years after the annexation of Crimea, a little more than two years after the outbreak of the war in the Donbass, which has left 14,000 dead and millions displaced, two years after the butchery of Ilovaisk, a year and a half after the butchery of Debaltseve, in the midst of the Assado-Putin war in Syria, in the midst of the Yoann Barbereau affair (Fr), in the midst of the Yukos dispute, where the spoliated shareholders are claiming 50 billion dollars from the Russian state, Russia is the ‘guest of honour’ (Ru) at the ‘Fêtes maritimes de Brest 2016’. The headliners will be the tall ships ‘Sedov’ and ‘Kruzenshtern’. To avoid their seizure, Jean-Marc Ayrault, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Aude Azoulay, Minister of Culture, are dressing up the two commercial service providers as ‘loaned cultural goods’.

By order of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development and the Minister of Culture and Communication dated 27 June 2016:

‘The two sailing ships

• the Sedov (built in Germany in 1921, IMO number 7946356, owned by Murmansk State Technical University, Russia) ;
• the Kruzenshtern (built in Germany in 1926, IMO no. 6822979, owned by Kaliningrad State Technical University, Russia),

participating in the 7th edition of the Fêtes maritimes internationales de Brest 2016, organized by the city of Brest and the association Brest Evénements nautiques at the port of Brest from July 13, 2016 to July 19, 2016, are exempt from seizure during the period of their loan to France from July 11, 2016 to July 22, 2016, pursuant to the provisions of Article 61 of Law No. 94-679 of August 8, 1994 (Fr).

We would like to expressly point out that we have no proof to date of Thierry Clerc’s possible involvement in the above-mentioned scheme. However, we wanted to present it here for the attention of those who might possibly have probative information. Indeed, this set-up appears to be one of the types of operation that fall within Mr Clerc’s remit.

On this topic, see also the July 2016 article on ‘Informnapalm’ by the author of this paper.

Demonstrations against the Shtandart’s illegal ports of call in Finistère: Camaret 15 August 2022, Brest 31 May 2024, Brest 9 July 2024.

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2.4. Lawyer Thierry Clerc and Gérard d’Aboville (‘La semaine du Golfe’) attempted SLAPP suit against the ‘No Shtandart In Europe’ collective, 15 May 2023.

From 15 to 21 May 2023, the Russian vessel Shtandart performed a commercial service for ‘La semaine du Golfe du Morbihan’ (Gulf of Morbihan Week) Festival, in breach of European restrictive measures. The ‘No Shtandart In Europe’ collective alerted the organisation, the authorities, the press and the general public to this incident.

On 15 May 2023, at the request of Gérard d’Aboville, president of ‘La Semaine du Golfe du Morbihan’ (Gulf of Morbihan Week) Festival, Thierry Clerc gives formal notice to the author of these lines (Fr) demanding to delete all communications related to his client’s circumvention of European regulations. In particular, he insists that all mention of Gérard d’Aboville and ‘La Semaine du Golfe’ must disappear. He is threatening legal action.

My client hereby gives you formal notice to cease without delay :

• any use of his name, trademark and domain name, and asks you to modify the titles, articles and hypertext links, and to remove any hashtags and keywords containing his distinctive signs;

• any defamation or even insult against La Semaine du Golfe du Morbihan (Gulf of Morbihan Week) and/or Mr Gérard d’Aboville and to delete all your publications relating to them.

Should you fail to do so, I have already received instructions to refer the matter to the competent courts in order to force you to do so.
Of course, La Semaine du Golfe du Morbihan and Mr Gérard d’Aboville reserve the right to claim compensation for any damage they feel they have suffered.

Thierry Clerc, 15/05/2023 (Fr)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kylyNLQM0_2RdFHt1Ef2fDkMQmz0gPjv/view

The action finally came to an end with the collective resignation of the management (Fr) of ‘La Semaine du Golfe du Morbihan’ association.

Below, demonstrations against the illegal performance of the Shtandart at the ‘Semaine du Golfe’: Vannes 18 March 2023, Baden 18 May 2023

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2.5. Thierry Clerc lost the case at Rennes Administrative Court regarding the Finistère Prefect’s order relating to the Russian vessel Shtandart, July 2024

‘Marine et océans’, 11/07/2024 – In front of the administrative court, the Russian vessel Shtandart demands to be allowed to dock in Brest.

In court, Thierry Clerc, the lawyer for captain Vladimir Martus, condemned the fact that the Shtandart, which was outside Brest harbour on Thursday afternoon, had ‘suddenly become an undesirable vessel’.
‘It has no alternative. It’s in the roadstead*, and it’s suffering extremely serious damage’, said Mr Clerc.
What’s more, the Shtandart ‘has not been under the Russian flag since 6 June 2024 and they want to apply the pre-2024 legislation to prevent ships from coming in. That’s the problem’, explained the lawyer, pointing out that the boat had changed flag, now registered in the Cook Islands, at ‘the request of the French government’.

The Finistère prefecture explained that the order had been issued in accordance with European law, which was ‘amended on 24 June’.
The order was issued because ‘we have received confirmation that the Shtandart persists in failing to comply with European law, as amended on 24 June, by announcing its intention to come to the Brest Maritime Festival’, it said.

Marine et océans (Fr), 11/07/2024
https://marine-oceans.com/actualites/devant-la-justice-administrative-le-navire-russe-shtandart-reclame-de-pouvoir-accoster-a-brest/

=> Order of the Prefect of Finistère, 07/07/2024 (Fr)

With regard to the information received by the Finistère Prefecture, please read below the letter from ‘No Shtandart In Europe’, which followed another letter to the Maritime Prefect.

* Actually, on 11 July 2024, the Shtandart is not in the roadstead (of Brest), as Thierry Clerc asserted in court. The Russian ship was blocked by a French Navy patrol boat under the Pointe du Toulinguet, at the entrance to the strait leading to the roadstead of Brest.

‘Marine et océans’, 11/07/2024 – Court upholds the ban on the Russian ship Shtandart docking in Brest

On Thursday, the administrative court in Rennes rejected the summary application by the Russian vessel Shtandart against the decision of the Finistère prefecture banning it from the ports and the Brest Maritime Festival, which starts on Friday.

According to the order, which AFP was able to consult, none of the arguments put forward ‘are such as to create serious doubt** as to the legality of the prefectoral order of 7 July 2024 at issue’.

Marine et océans (Fr), 11/07/2024
https://marine-oceans.com/actualites/la-justice-maintient-linterdiction-au-navire-russe-shtandart-daccoster-a-brest/

=> Order of the Rennes Administrative Court, 11/07/2024 (Fr)

** On 31 October 2024, in his letter to the ‘No Shtandart In Europe’ collective, Thierry Clerc continued to invoke a ‘serious doubt’.

‘At this stage, therefore, there is serious doubt about the legality of the prefectoral decrees.
The Shtandart requested me to ask you to take this into account in future.’

Thierry Clerc (Fr), 31 October 2024
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jr8fv_xp7ExthBl0u45kD1nuyYdyhEL0/view

Actu.fr, 12/07/2024 – The courts have ruled: the Russian ship Shtandart banned from the Fêtes maritimes in Brest

The mother of this man whom ‘everyone likes’ is in fact ‘Ukrainian’***, argued Thierry Clerc.

Actu.fr, 12/07/2024
https://actu.fr/bretagne/brest_29019/la-justice-a-tranche-le-navire-russe-le-shtandart-interdit-de-fetes-maritimes-a-brest_61347588.html

*** On 31 October 2024, in his letter to the ‘No Shtandart In Europe’ collective, Thierry Clerc presents a different version of the comments he made in court in Rennes on 11 July 2024.

‘If he is of Russian nationality, his father is Ukrainian and his mother is Russian.’

Thierry Clerc (Fr), 31 October 2024
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jr8fv_xp7ExthBl0u45kD1nuyYdyhEL0/view

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2.6. The lawyer Thierry Clerc, in La Rochelle, in support of the Shtandart at the screening of France 3 documentary, 23 septembe 2024

In the discussion following this publication, it is interesting to read Michel Balique, one of Shtandart’s key lobbyists. He sets out, almost word for word, the arguments to be developed by Thierry Clerc, on 31 October 2024, in the formal notice serving as a prologue to the SLAPP suit that Vladimir Martus plans to launch against the “No Shtandart In Europe” collective.

In keeping with the practices he has been known for over two years, Balique contemptuously overplayed his usurpated argument of authority. The retired Sanofi purchase man, who is neither a sailor nor a lawyer, uses incongruous quotations to launch into a rigmarole designed to create confusion in a subjugated audience. Naturally, he dismissed the only article in the rules that nullified his hawker‘s bluff. The courts would later remind the audience of the reality of the texts.

Picket denouncing the illegal presence of the Shtandart in the port of La Rochelle at the entrance of the screening of the propaganda film in favour of the Russian vessel, 23 September 2024.

Other demonstrations against the illegal presence of Shtandart in La Rochelle: 12 June 2022, 6 August 2022, 11 December 2022.

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2.7. Thierry Clerc and Vladimir Martus’ SLAPP suit turned against ‘No Shtandart In Europe’ collective, 31 October 2024

The Shtandart is a trademark registered with theNational Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) on 9 July 2024 under no. 245068280 by the company MARTUS TV Gmbh, which we also represent. This trademark has been definitive since 2 October 2024.

The company that owns this trademark is asking me to prohibit you from using the name ‘No Shtandart in Europe’ in accordance with article L713-2 of the French Intellectual Property Code…

The use of my client’s trademark, domain name and name in the body of your articles is prejudicial to my client and gives rise to civil liability on your part.

Therefore, my client hereby gives you formal notice to cease all use of these names, trademarks and domain names without delay, and asks you to modify the titles, articles, links and hypertext and to remove any hashtags and keywords containing the name ‘SHTANDART’ and to cease all defamation or insults against Mr Vladimir MARTUS or the Shtandart.

If you fail to do so, we will take legal action to force you to do so.

Thierry Clerc (Fr), 31 October 2024
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jr8fv_xp7ExthBl0u45kD1nuyYdyhEL0/view

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2.8. Lawyer Thierry Clerc lost the case at the Conseil d’État regarding the Finistère prefect’s order about Russian vessel Shtandart, 18 November 2024.

The « Conseil d’État » (Council of State) is the highest French administrative court.

The Conseil d’Etat has rejected the appeal lodged by the captain of the Shtandart, a replica of the flagship of Russian Tsar Peter I, following the prefectoral ban imposed on him in July 2024 from entering the ports of Finistère to take part in the « Fêtes Maritimes de Brest »…

Before the Conseil d’Etat, Vladimir Martus argued that the Rennes judge had committed a double ‘error of law’ on 11 July 2024… ‘replicas of historic ships’ such as the Shtandart were not covered by the provisions of the EU regulation…

However, ‘none of these arguments is such as to allow the appeal to be admitted’, stated the Conseil d’Etat in its ruling of 18 November 2024, which has just been made public.

France 3 TV: Denied entry to the Brest maritime festival, the ship ‘Shtandart’, accused of serving Russian propaganda, runs aground on the rocks of the Conseil d’Etat (Fr)

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2.9. Thierry Clerc and Vladimir Martus on appeal at the Court of Justice of the European Union… to be continued

1. Restrictions for port entry from Maritime administration is still in force. Sometimes it become even more ridiculous, see copies of their mails below.
2. An appeal to High court of France had been filed. Thank you all who helped to collect funding for the legal services, it was vitally important. Next actions are to file an appeal in European court of Justice. And then, there will be time to take to court our little lonely opponent, who want to be seen as ‘a collective’. We think it is enough lies he has spread around, time to show to people who he really is.

Vladimir Martus on Facebook ‘Shtandart Project’, 18/08/2024

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Appendices

‘Semaine du Golfe’ letter, May 15, 2023, from Clerc Avocats (Fr)

Pdf file of the letter
PDF file of appendices

Twitter

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