SAVOLAINEN - Key Persons

Of Counsel de l'Étude, est une avocate internationalement reconnue en matière de défense pénale. Nancy Hollander a obtenu la libération de Mme Chelsea Manning en 2017 lorsque sa peine de prison de trente-cinq ans a été commuée en sept ans par le Président Barack Obama. Of Counsel to the firm, is an internationally recognised criminal defence lawyer. Nancy Hollander won Ms. Chelsea Manning's release in 2017 when President Barack Obama commuted her sentence from thirtyfive years in prison to seven years. She also represented two prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay Base. In 2016 she won the release of one of them, Mr. Mohamedou Ould Slahi. His story is chronicled in his book Guantanamo Diary and the feature film titled The Mauritanian, with Oscar-winning actress Jodie Foster who stars as Nancy Hollander. For her other client at Guantanamo, Mr. Abd Rahim Al- Nashiri, who is facing the death penalty, Nancy Hollander worked with the Open Society Justice Initiative to win two cases in the European Court of Human Rights. Nancy Hollander currently represents Mr. Al- Nashiri as a victim before the International Criminal Court for the alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Afghanistan, in particular in the CIA «black sites». In addition to her criminal defence practice, Nancy Hollander has been counsel in numerous civil cases, including financial forfeitures, and administrative hearings. She has lectured on numerous subjects and taught trial advocacy to lawyers in several countries. In 2006, she won a historic case involving religious freedom in the U.S. Supreme Court. In addition to numerous awards, in 2001, she was named as one of United States best 50 women litigators by the National Law Journal. While Nancy Hollander is no longer taking new cases, she remains available to consult on significant matters of interest.

Sylvain Savolainen also has recognised expertise in human rights, in particular in business and human rights issues. He represents Mr. Abd Rahim al-Nashiri, who faces death penalty, and was tortured and detained incommunicado for four years in different « black sites » around the world, then at the Guantánamo detention camp since 2006 where he has been detained unlawfully and without judgement since then. He is Vice-President of the International Criminal Defence Commission of the UIA (International Association of Lawyers), member of the Human Rights Committee of the ECBA (European Criminal Bar Association), member of the Advisory Committee of VOCAL (Victims of Crime Association of Lawyers), and former member of the Human Rights Commission of the Geneva Bar Association. Sylvain is regularly invited to speak and give lectures at international congresses as well as at various universities. In 2015, Sylvain Savolainen won the first prize of the prestigious Michel Nançoz trial advocacy competition organized by the Geneva Bar. The same year, he was awarded the third prize of the eloquence competition Prix Paris-Montreal de la francophonie. In 2012, the University of Geneva awarded him the prize for best Masters in Law thesis for his work on the corporate criminal liability. Before becoming a lawyer, Sylvain Savolainen was a photographer and a reporter for ten years; he collaborated with the international press and various national radio stations (New York Times, GEO, Figaro Magazine, Herald Tribune, La Repubblica, La Stampa, El Mundo, L'Hebdo, RTS, France Inter, France Culture). In 2007, he received the Swiss Press Photo Award for the best feature of the year conducted abroad for his reporting on the post-war situation in Sierra Leone and international criminal justice.