On May 31, 2005, a court in Veliky Novgorod passed a sentence on a group of Russian National Unity (RNU) activists .

The announcement of the verdict lasted three hours. The court found Mikhail Pekin guilty of creating an extremist community (282.1 part 1), and his countrymen Oleg Saveliev and Alexei Zakharov of participating in it (282.1 part 2). All three were found guilty by the court under article 282, part 2, point "c" (incitement of national hatred or enmity, as well as humiliation of human dignity, committed by an organized group). Beijing, Savelyev and Zakharov were respectively sentenced to 4, 3 and 2 years in prison.

Considering the circumstances that aggravated and mitigated their guilt, Judge Lyudmila Fetisova sentenced them to a suspended sentence with a probationary period of 4 years. The defendants were also deprived of the right to engage in the distribution of mass media for 3 years, and Mikhail Pekin, in addition, was deprived of the right to engage in journalistic activities for three years.

In Novgorod, this is the second case of a judicial ban on journalistic activity. In 2004, the court banned Pavel Ivanov, a member of the NDPR, from conducting journalistic activities, but later the sentence was reviewed on appeal.

Sources

Novgorod Court Issues Suspended Sentence to RNE Extremists // Ytro.ru (with reference to RIA Novosti). May 31, 2005
In Veliky Novgorod, the court delivered a verdict on charges of extremism of a group of activists of the "Russian National Unity" // Veliky Novgorod.ru. 2005. June 1
The court sentenced RNE activists // Novgorod.RFN.ru. 2005. June 1

RNU activists sentenced in Veliky Novgorod