Amsterdam was born on 9 January 1956 in New York City before moving to Canada, where he became a dual US-Canadian citizen.
Legal career
Some of Amsterdam's most notable cases have included his earlier work in the Global South. For instance, he won international litigation on behalf of the Four Seasons Hotel and Resort Group in Venezuela. He also worked the well known Gutierrez case in Guatemala, which involved representing the victims of one of the country's largest alleged tax fraud and money laundering schemes.[5][6] Amsterdam would go on to represent political prisoners, democracy advocates and other leaders such as Eligio Cedeño in Venezuela, Nigeria's Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai and Singapore's Dr. Chee Soon Juan, among others.[7][8]
In 2003, Amsterdam was retained to defend Yukos CEO and Russia's wealthiest man Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who was also described as Russian President Vladimir Putin's primary opponent.[9][10][11][12] In 2005, Khodorkovsky was sentenced to prison. On the night of the verdict, Amsterdam was detained by plainclothes security agents in the middle of the night at his hotel room.[13] Amsterdam then engaged in a media campaign for the Yukos and Khodorkovsky cases, which included focusing on efforts to secure Khodorkovsky's release. He was ultimately released from prison in 2013.[14]
In May 2010, former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra hired Amsterdam to serve as international lawyer and advisor to the defence counsel of the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD, or the "Red Shirts").[15] Speaking out publicly, Amsterdam "urged the international community not to tolerate the (new) government's violent crackdown on... peaceful protesters",[16] and published a list of alleged human rights and international law violations committed during what he branded the "Bangkok massacres".[17] During the 2013–14 Thai political crisis, Amsterdam delivered a speech to a massive Red Shirt rally in Bangkok, leading to a spat with politician Suthep Thaugsuban, who was critical of Amsterdam. Amsterdam responded by stating that Suthep was leading a "Thai Taliban"[18]
Since 2023, Amsterdam has represented the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), along with various individuals related to it, in a fight against the Ukrainian Government over moves to prohibit the religion. While the government has cited the UOC's alleged ties to the Russian Orthodox Church, Amsterdam has denied those links and characterised the efforts as contrary to the freedom of religion and aimed at establishing an authoritarian state.[21][22]
^"Robert Amsterdam". Amsterdam & Partners. Retrieved 28 November 2014. According to the former British Ambassador to Russia, Andrew Wood, "The word that best describes Bob is courage, both moral and actual. He raises questions that are not always welcome, and that is often the proper business of a lawyer."
^"Response Statement: Suthep Leading a Thai Taliban". Robert Amsterdam Thailand. 7 April 2014. Retrieved 16 April 2014. 'He is a bloody farang, why does he interfere in Thai politics?', Suthep said, repeatedly referring to Mr. Amsterdam as a 'bastard' for suggesting that individual members of anti-democracy network should face international sanctions.
