Translated material
Prosecutorial self-government
In the Kaliningrad region, criminal cases are being initiated against unpopular heads of municipalities
At the end of last week, a criminal case was opened against the head of the Baltic urban district of the Kaliningrad region, Fedor Yaroshevich, under Part 2 of Article 285 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Abuse of official powers.” The case was initiated personally by the regional prosecutor Alexey Samsonov. This is becoming a common practice in the struggle of regional authorities with unwanted or unpopular heads of municipalities.The department for investigating particularly important cases of the regional prosecutor's office has been entrusted with Yaroshevich's criminal case. Earlier, the press service of the prosecutor's office published the results of an inspection in the Baltic urban district, which showed that legislation in the field of provision of land plots was violated there. In this regard, the Baltiysk prosecutor's office protested 28 legal acts of the local administration on the transfer of land plots into ownership and long-term lease to individuals and legal entities.
Mr. Yaroshevich himself could not be reached for comment. In his reception they constantly said that “the head is not in place at the moment, he is out on business.” And the official’s mobile phones, which were previously in use, were switched off.
The criminal case against the head of the municipality was not initiated out of nowhere. In July, members of the regional government took a working trip to the Baltic urban district (the main base of the Baltic Fleet is located there). As Governor Georgy Boos stated then, the reason for the extraordinary departure to Baltiysk was an inexhaustible stream of complaints from the population. “As a result, a large number of violations were revealed, the municipality’s debt amounted to tens of millions of rubles. One of the reasons is the lack of professional skills among the leaders of the current administration and the low quality of management. The municipality is in a very difficult state,” said Mr. Boos.
At a meeting with residents of the Baltic urban district, Georgy Boos suggested that Mr. Yaroshevich, who, citing illness, did not participate in this dialogue with the population, resign from his position of his own free will. The head of the municipality refused to leave, saying that he would leave his post only if the residents of the municipality decided so in a referendum. The local official was quickly expelled from United Russia.
Mr. Yaroshevich is not the first of the Kaliningrad heads of municipalities against whom a criminal case has been initiated. Earlier, the prosecutor's office investigated the head of the Chernyakhovsky urban district, Andrei Vinogradov, suspecting him of misuse of budget funds. He was temporarily suspended from office, and recently his office was sealed. Mr. Vinogradov believes that this is completely unnecessary. In his opinion, the court removed him from the post of head of the municipal administration, but the post of elected head of the district remained with him.
“The initiators of political persecution against me stop at nothing. During the period of active preparation for the heating season, this time the regional Department of Economic Crimes carried out a complete seizure of all primary documents, contracts, and computers in the main utility companies of the district. It took my personal and very persistent intervention in order for at least the computers to be returned,” said Mr. Vinogradov. In an effort to continue to serve people faithfully, he moved to the office next door to the sealed one, in which he exercises his powers.
Previously, the head of the largest local resort, the city of Svetlogorsk, was removed from his post following a trial for weapons smuggling. And recently, on the initiative of the regional government, the council of deputies of the Pionersky urban district was dissolved as refusing to comply with court decisions.