Seven years for Max Kalinichenko

On February 27, a debate took place in the Kuibyshevsky Court of St. Petersburg in the case of Maxim Kalinichenko. When I heard in the courtroom that the prosecutor asked for seven years for a crime that never happened, all I could do was clench my fists with hatred. Tomorrow the verdict will be announced, from which nothing good can be expected.

The case of a social activist, a well-known supporter of a healthy lifestyle in St. Petersburg, the leader of the Russian Jogging, Maxim Kalinichenko, is certainly the most egregious political process in St. Petersburg and one of the most unprecedented at the country level. This is a complete finish, before which even “Bolotnaya Affair” and Givi Targamadze are resting.

It all started with the fact that in December 2011, Kalinichenko posted on his VKontakte page a quote from Abbie Hoffman from the work “Stop This Book!” Oddly enough, the Russian nationalist posted a poignant excerpt from an American hippie book, a completely legal one sold in bookstores. The fragment (in the file it is called pathetically - “manifesto”) hung for several hours, after which Max himself deleted it. Then he placed an invitation to the rally “For Fair Elections,” which took place on December 10, 2011 on Pionerskaya Square.

After arriving at the Mayakovskaya metro station on the day of the rally, Kalinichenko was roughly detained by the police. While Max was being dragged to the service bus, a scuffle broke out between third parties and the police, during which cop Babchenko tripped over a sidewalk fence and fell face down on the asphalt. Then he went to the hospital, took off the beatings, was ill for three weeks and ended up with moderate damage.

That's all, actually. Investigators connected the “manifest” and the beaten cop, then qualified the incident as Article 212 Part 3. (“Calls for active disobedience to the legal demands of government officials and for mass riots”) and Article 318 Part 2 (“Use of violence against a government official that is dangerous to life or health”). And so the beardless young prosecutor said today in the courtroom that Kalinichenko provoked “pogroms and the creation of a situation of chaos” and, without blinking an eye, asked for a 7-year real sentence.

“It’s like collecting text messages throughout my entire life,” Max said during the debate. So they put the case together piece by piece, like a construction set from parts that only a bad fantasy or modern “justice” can put together.

Remember the names of the employees of Center “E” - Temnov, Reutov, Pasechnik, Stepanenko, as well as just the policemen - Babchenko, Silukova. These are the people who slandered Max, who came up with a crime that simply did not exist. There is no forgiveness for them!

It is important to note the situation with two of Kalinichenko’s accomplices - Igor Panferov and Maxim Alexandrov, who directly struck the cops. Both of them did not know Max before the arrest; they were artificially drawn into the case. Allegedly, Kalinichenko inspired them to commit violence against law enforcement officers.

Initially, Panferov and Aleksandrov made a deal with the investigation, incriminating Kalinichenko. They were under recognizance not to leave the place and were counting on a special (expedited) procedure for considering the case. In court, the guys felt ashamed, and they told the truth, refuting their earlier testimony. The result of this worthy act was a three-year real sentence, which the prosecutor asked for Panferov (Alexandrov is undergoing treatment, his case was separated into separate proceedings). This is how the repressive system repaid the traitors to their interests.

The defense did what it could do. Even my lawyer in Case 12, Sergei Golubok, spoke at the debate and attacked the prosecutor with European legal precision. The verdict will be pronounced tomorrow, at 12:00 in the Kuibyshevsky District Court of St. Petersburg (Karavannaya St., 20). Hall number 8, judge Kirsanova. Come! This is very important for Maxim.