Translated material
Political pressure: media digest (July 2-9, 2015)
"Bolotnaya case"
Andrey Barabanov and Alexey Gaskarov appealed the double punishment to the Constitutional Court
“Alexei Gaskarov and Andrei Barabanov ask that the provisions of the Criminal Code, which allow the qualification of the same criminal event under several articles, be declared unconstitutional if the norms contained in them are related to each other as a whole and a part. This is exactly what happened in their case, believe Barabanov and Gaskarov, who were convicted by the Zamoskvoretsky District Court of Moscow in February and August 2014, respectively, under two articles of the Criminal Code (see inset).
Meanwhile, all the signs of such a crime as violence against a government official are already provided for by the norm on participation in mass riots, which in itself is considered a more serious crime. The verdict says so: “They took part in mass riots, accompanied by violence, damage and destruction of property, as well as the use of physical force to try to break through the cordon consisting of police officers.” It turns out that at least 15 participants in the “Bolotnaya case” were tried twice for the same act, says lawyer Ramil Akhmetgaliev, who represents the interests of the applicants: their actions were classified under two articles and for each a separate punishment was imposed, followed by addition.
Akhmetgaliev recalls that the Supreme Court has repeatedly given clarifications on the need to avoid such situations - for example, in the resolution of the plenum of the Supreme Court on judicial practice in cases of theft, robbery and robbery it is stated: “The use of violence in a robbery attack, as a result of which the victim is deliberately inflicted with slight or moderate harm to health is covered by robbery and additional qualifications under Art. 115 or 112 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is not required.” The Supreme Court demonstrates a similar approach when analyzing practice in cases of sexual crimes. Qualification errors occur quite often in practice, but usually they are corrected at the level of the supervisory authority, the lawyer emphasizes. However, the “Bolotnaya” verdict stood in all instances, including the Supreme Court, which confirmed exactly this interpretation, Akhmetgaliev is perplexed. The Supreme Court gave a new interpretation to the contested norms, which was the reason for the appeal to the Constitutional Court.
“In our opinion, the whole danger of the situation lies in the fact that in this case the qualifications were not carried out according to the rules, but according to concepts,” says Akhmetgaliev. “The verdict was not based on the generally accepted rules of qualification enshrined in the Criminal Code, but on the understanding by the state authorities of each attack on their representative as a particularly dangerous act.” The lawyer recalls that even the amnesty that took place last year did not apply to the participants in the “Bolotna case” who were found guilty under Art. 318, although formally this is a less serious crime than participation in mass riots, which was included in the amnesty.
A representative of the Supreme Court declined to comment. The court's position is formulated in the decision in the case, he says.
From the conclusion of specialists from the Russian Academy of National Economy and Civil Service and Kazan University, which are attached to the complaint of Gaskarov and Barabanov to the Constitutional Court, it follows that the use of violence not dangerous to life and health is fully covered by Part 2 of Art. 212 of the Criminal Code and does not require additional qualifications. However, Leonid Golovko, a professor at the Law Faculty of Moscow State University, warns: the chances that the Constitutional Court will consider the complaint admissible are slim. According to the expert, mixing autonomous compounds with qualifying features is indeed a very common problem in law enforcement, but this is still more a matter of interpretation of facts, rather than the quality of a specific norm, and the Constitutional Court, in principle, is not involved in assessing facts. At the same time, if the court considers that the interpretation of the disputed norm changes its meaning, then it can clarify which conditions are mandatory for application, Golovko believes.”
prosecution
Preliminary hearings took place in the case of Sentsov and Kolchenko
“The North Caucasus District Military Court will begin to consider the case of “Crimean terrorists” against Oleg Sentsov and Alexander Kolchenko on July 21 at 09:30, Sentsov’s defender Olga Chavdar told Mediazona.
The consideration of the case on its merits will take place in open mode. The defendants' lawyers will not be able to disclose those data from the case materials that are considered state secrets.
A preliminary hearing was held today, at which the defendants' terms of detention were extended. According to the court decision, they will remain in custody for another six months, that is, until January 2016.
Kolchenko's lawyer Svetlana Sidorkina petitioned to return the case to the prosecutor's office, but the judge refused.
The FSB accuses the Ukrainian director Sentsov of creating and leading a terrorist community (Part 1 of Article 205.4 of the Criminal Code), preparing and committing a terrorist attack (clause “a” of Part 2 of Article 205 of the Criminal Code and the same article with Part 1 of Article 30 of the Criminal Code), illegal acquisition and storage firearms and ammunition, as well as an attempt to purchase explosive devices (part 3 of Article 222 of the Criminal Code and the same article with part 3 of Article 30 of the Criminal Code). Anti-fascist Kolchenko is accused of committing a terrorist attack (clause “a” of Part 2 of Article 205 of the Criminal Code) and participation in the activities of a terrorist community (Part 2 of Article 205.4 of the Criminal Code).
Investigators claim that Sentsov, on the instructions of the Right Sector banned in Russia, created a terrorist community in Simferopol, which included, in addition to the director, anti-fascist Kolchenko, historian Alexei Chirniy, lawyer Gennady Afanasyev and wanted people with the names Tsiril, Borkin, Zuikov and Asanov. Two defendants in the case of “Crimean terrorists”—Chirniy and Afanasyev—have already been sentenced: each received seven years in a maximum security colony.”
The defendant in the “February 26 Case” in Simferopol had his detention period extended until September
“Crimean News Agency”, July 3 :
“Today, July 3, in the Kiev District Court of Simferopol a court hearing was held to select a preventive measure for Mustafa Degermendzhi, who is accused of participating in a rally near the building of the Verkhovna Rada of Crimea on February 26, 2014.
The court decided to extend Mustafa Degermendzhi's detention until September 7.
The head of the Central Election Commission of the Kurultai of the Crimean Tatar people, Zair Smedlyaev, reported this to the QHA news agency.
- And you are to blame for the fact that you do not give false testimony against [one of the leaders of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people Akhtem] Chiygoz, but if you had stolen a couple of million budget money or run your own business in violation of the laws, then you would have been given a written undertaking not to leave or home arrest. This once again proves the bias of judges and the depravity of the entire judicial system, which is in the service of those in power, and not the Law! - Zair Smedlyaev commented on the court decision.
Let us remind you that Mustafa Degermendzhi was born in 1989. was detained on May 7 in the village of Grushevka (Sudak) in the “February 26” case. The arrest was carried out by a group of 6-8 people in full equipment with machine guns. According to the parents, when they were going to work, a seizure group drove up on the street, they hit Mustafa, handcuffed him and pushed him into the car.”
The case of painting the star has been transferred to the prosecutor's office
“The BASE jumpers accused in the case of painting a high-rise star on Kotelnicheskaya Embankment in the colors of the Ukrainian flag have finished familiarizing themselves with the case materials. The case has been transferred to the prosecutor’s office for approval of the indictment, Alexey Pogrebov’s lawyer Olga Lukmanova told Mediazona on Tuesday.”
Those convicted in the “Flag Case” appealed the verdict
“Kaliningraders convicted for the flag over the FSB building will demand their acquittal,” Oleg Savvin, one of the defendants in the case, told Rosbalt.
“We have already filed an appeal, within the ten-day deadline. I filed it personally, and lawyers filed for Misha and Dima. Now we are waiting for the first news, notifications, when to wait for the first hearing,” Savvin said. <…> According to Savvin, he and his comrades do not agree with the accusation. “There is no evidence. It was not established in any way that we are extremists, but for some reason the judge said that since we have such a position, we oppose the occupation, the annexation of Crimea, it means that we hate all those who bear the opposite position. Probably , he had in mind some patriotic citizens who believe that Crimea is ours, and we need to fight with Ukraine, take away its territories. But this, of course, was the judge’s speculation. He needed to justify the extremist motive and he justified it in such an original way. I think that this case is completely far-fetched. The accusations that were there - I have never confirmed this and do not agree with them,” Savvin said.
According to him, he is ready to go to the end “in the fight against punitive absurdity.” “With extremism, everything is clear - it’s like in the Middle Ages they were labeled a heretic. Anyone who does not agree with the official position, from the point of view of the Kremlin security forces, is for some reason considered an extremist. In our case, this is a clear case. I personally will still go to the Constitutional Court. This formulation must be appealed on the basis of our case, including the imputation of political hatred and enmity to us - that is, a convenient means for fighting dissidents in Russia. This cannot be allowed, given that Misha Feldman is of Jewish origin and is a liberal. , like me, like Dima, I have always opposed totalitarianism, this is simply ridiculous and absurd,” the agency’s interlocutor noted.”
The case of Khopr's defenders has begun in the Voronezh region
“ The Novousmansky District Court of the Voronezh Region yesterday began consideration of the merits of the criminal case against environmental activists Mikhail Bezmensky and Igor Zhitenev, accused of extorting 24 million rubles. from the structures of the Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company (UMMC). For this money, according to the prosecution, they promised to extinguish protests at the site of geological exploration carried out in the interests of UMMC in the east of the Voronezh region. Both defendants completely deny their guilt. Two dozen activists and Cossacks were present at yesterday's meeting. They did not believe the testimony of UMMC top managers, who described in detail how Mikhail Bezmensky “extorted money” from the company.
Environmental activist Mikhail Bezmensky and the head of the national cultural autonomy of the Cossacks of the Novokhopersky district of the Voronezh region, Igor Zhitenev, are charged with extortion on an especially large scale (Article 163 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The prosecution's version, in addition to the representative of the prosecutor's office, was presented in detail yesterday by a key witness - the top manager of UMMC, Yuri Nemchinov, who oversees security. He claims that he personally negotiated with Mikhail Bezmensky and gave him cash. According to Mr. Nemchinov, he met the accused as “protest leaders” in 2013 through local social activist Nina Belyaeva, with whose help he studied the then peak protests against the actions of UMMC in the region. The top manager said that the accused Bezmensky showed him photos of himself with other activists and claimed that he could force them to abandon the protest. The acquaintance with the activist, according to a representative of the holding, occurred shortly after the pogrom that happened on June 22, 2013 at the geological exploration site of the Elan copper-nickel deposit in the Novokhopersky district. Work there is being carried out in the interests of UMMC. Then activists protesting against research burned two drilling rigs and destroyed the geologists’ camp. Mr. Nemchinov claims that after those events, the workers refused to continue exploration, the company suffered multimillion-dollar damage and “was ready to do anything” to ensure that the confrontation ended. Therefore, as Yuri Nemchinov reported, the company began paying Mikhail Bezmensky.
In total, UMMC transferred him 24 million rubles. Some of it was spent on the “birthday present” the activist demanded—an AudiQ7. According to Yuri Nemchinov, he conducted all negotiations after consultations with another top manager of UMMC, Petr Yamov. It is Mr. Yamov who appears in the case as the applicant - in the fall of 2013, he applied to the GUEBiPK of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. According to Yuri Nemchinov, the statement to the police was written after Mikhail Bezmensky demanded 15 million rubles: he allegedly demanded 7 million of them for himself, another 7 million for Igor Zhitenev, “who has 200 Cossack sabers behind him,” and more 1 million - for activist Nelly Rudchenko. Yuri Nemchinov claims that Mikhail Bezmensky persistently and constantly demanded money via SMS. The accused Bezmensky was detained in November 2013, after Yuri Nemchinov put a package containing 15 million rubles in the trunk of an AudiQ7. in cash. Igor Zhitenev was detained a few hours later: the operatives used Mikhail Bezmensky as bait - he came to the Cossack’s home with money, and the operatives recorded their transfer. They have been in custody since then. The police investigation changed the plot of the charges - from extortion to a milder fraud (Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and back. Twice the indictment did not satisfy the Prosecutor General's Office, which pointed out that the evidence in the case rather speaks of the innocence of both defendants than of their malicious intent. As a result, the almost completed criminal case was transferred to the Voronezh Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, whose investigators unexpectedly approved the indictment at the regional prosecutor's office the first time.
Both defendants yesterday denied their guilt. Mikhail Bezmensky stated that the stated plot of the case does not correspond to the actual circumstances, and Igor Zhitenev called what was happening “a mockery of a common man.” Activist Bezmensky insists that UMMC hired him to pacify the protests, and the money he received was payment for the work. Igor Zhitenev denies his involvement in the conflicts. According to him, he contacted UMMC representatives several times after clashes at the geological exploration site with a request “not to touch people.” By asking Mr. Nemchinov questions yesterday, the accused tried to prove their position. “Neither I, nor even more so the simple Novokhoper resident Zhitenev, posed any danger to such a monster as UMMC. If I had demanded something from these people, it’s unclear in which forest belt they would have found me later,” Mikhail Bezmensky told Kommersant. About two dozen environmental activists and Cossacks came to yesterday's meeting. They did not create a scandal, but reacted with irony to Yuri Nemchinov’s “half-truths, or even completely untruths,” and for the most part supported Igor Zhitenev: many who came perceived Mikhail Bezmensky as a person who “framed” the ataman.”
OVD-Info about the details of the case
The investigation into the case of Kuban activist Sergei Titarenko has been completed
“Kommersant-Rostov-on-Don”, July 3 :
“ In Krasnodar, the investigation into the case against Sergei Titarenko, who is accused of posting calls for extremist activities on the Internet, has ended. In April 2014, Sergei Titarenko on his VKontakte page posted a link to a Ukrainian resource that contained negative information about the Russian President. The accused does not plead guilty to calls for extremism and claims that he did not take the posted information seriously.
Accused of posting calls for extremist activities on the Internet, Sergei Titarenko, upon completion of the investigative actions, began to familiarize himself with the materials of the criminal case brought against him under Part 1 of Art. 280 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (public calls for extremist activities). As Sergei Titarenko told Kommersant, he is an active user of social networks and has been monitoring information about the events taking place there since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine. In April 2014, he posted on his VKontakte page, which has a large number of subscribers, a link to the page of the Kolomoisky Broadcasts group, which contained information under the heading “No dictator - no problem” concerning Russian President Vladimir Putin. “At that moment, I regarded this information as a bad joke,” explained Sergei Titarenko. “I was sure that Igor Kolomoisky, as the governor of the Dnepropetrovsk region, could not speak in such a way about another statesman - the President of Russia.”
Sergei Titarenko’s page did not contain his personal statements regarding the information posted. “I do not deny that I posted the link,” the accused clarified. “But I do not agree with the investigation’s version that my actions were a call for extremism.”
Jehovah's Witness was sentenced to twelve days of arrest for distributing literature, but was released more than a day later
“The elder of the Jehovah’s Witnesses (JW) community in the village of Bryukhovetskaya (Krasnodar Territory), Vladimir Yeltavsky, was sent to jail on July 1 for 12 days on trumped-up charges of distributing books included in the Federal List of Extremist Materials (FSEM) of the Russian Federation, the press service of the JW Management Center reports. in Russia. “The fact that the appointment of such a disproportionate punishment is shocking, the judge of the Bryukhovetsky district court Dmitry Mosipan violated a number of legislation, including the right to judicial protection,” said the representative of the SI managerial center, Yaroslav Sivulsky.
The fact that the administrative case against him is considered in court, the believer Vladimir Eltavsky learned less than an hour before the hearing - from the bailiff, who came to his house in order to forcefully deliver him to court. The case under Article 20.29 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (“Mass distribution of extremist materials”) was initiated by the prosecutor of the Bryukhovetsky district A. Fomenko. The accusation is based on false testimonies of witnesses who claim that “in March 2015” Eltavsky seemed to have been distributing books with the names “Does God really care about us?” And "What does the Bible really teach?"
Judge Mospan ignored the fact that the term of bringing to administrative responsibility has expired in June. In addition, in violation of the basic human rights, Judge Mospan refused to Eltavsky in the right to qualified legal assistance (Article 48 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation), as well as the right to familiarize themselves with documents and materials directly affecting his rights and freedom (Article 24 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation ). As a result, the judge unreasonably appointed the believer an extremely severe punishment associated with imprisonment. ”
“On July 9, 2015, it became known that the Krasnodar Regional Court recognized the decision on the administrative arrest of Eltavsky, issued by the court of first instance. After 32 hours of stay under the administrative arrest of the elder of the community, he was released. ”
Turkish citizen spent two days under the arrest for a message about the theologian on the forum
“In July 2015, it became known that on May 29, 2015, the court in Astrakhan found the Turkish citizen Metin Karakocha to be guilty under Art. 20.29 Administrative Code (distribution of extremist materials) and sentenced to two days of administrative arrest.
The offense was seen in the fact that Karakoch, the head of the Center for the Turkish language of the Astrakhan State University, posted material on the works of Fetullah Gulen, with links to his works at one of the Astrakhan forums, and recommended reading Gulen's books.
After the departure of administrative arrest, Karakoch left Russia. ”
In Krasnoyarsk, the follower of Said Nursi sentenced to 100 thousand a fine
“... July 3, 2015, the Soviet District Court of Krasnoyarsk found the follower Said Nursi T. Guzenko guilty under part 1 of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code (organizing the activities of an extremist organization). It is sentenced to a fine of 100 thousand rubles. Guzenko was found guilty of organizing the activities of the cell of the prohibited religious association "Nurjular" and holding meetings to study the works of Said Nursi, included in the federal list of extremist materials. The case against Guzenko was opened by the Federal Security Service of Russia at the end of 2013. ”
extrajudicial prosecution
The author of the street portrait of the governor of the Saratov region was expelled from the university
"Public opinion of the Saratov", July 8 :
“The author of the scandalous portrait of the governor Valery Radaev, drawn around the pit on Sakko and Vanzetti Street in Saratov, was expelled from the university. This was reported by the acquaintance of the artist Vikenty Belikov. The latter was not available this morning for comments. According to our source, after the sensational action of Belikov, " they stubbornly tried to expel from the SSTU and still pushed it ."
Recall that graffiti appeared on the night of June 10 to 11, causing a violent reaction in society. The police quickly identified the artist, as reported, at the personal request of the officials of the regional government. Vincent Belikov admitted that he was the author of work and allegedly called the customer-the ex-head of the Engels branch of the LDPR Alexei Drobot. "
Ufa authorities ask the hotel administration to report if they have a blogger Ilya Varlamov
“The blogger Ilya Varlamov will turn to the Prosecutor General’s Office of violation of the inviolability of private life due to the fact that the Ufa authorities called for reporting his whereabouts.
On July 2, Varlamov published in his blog a post on the mass mailing of letters on hotels and hostels of Ufa. The Directorate for the preparation and conduct of the Summites of the GO Ufa administration asked to inform the authorities in the event of a Moscow blogger.
“In a situation where the city administration is looking for me, I am for the first time. Of course, I'm going to contact the Prosecutor General, ”Varlamov said in a commentary to Novaya Gazeta. “This is an absolutely inadequate situation, because all my contacts are freely available, but no one officially tried to contact me, they didn’t even write a letter.”
Several hotels, which the New Gazeta selectively turned to, confirmed that they received letters from the Ufa administration with a request to report the whereabouts of Ilya Varlamov (Bashkiria Hotel, a network of mini -egothels, amulet, four rooms, “four rooms”, “ Like hostel "). Nevertheless, the blogger noted that he did not stay in hotels, was in the city only one day and is now outside it.
Maria Bast, lawyer of the Russian Lawyers Association for Human Rights also indicated the illegality of the actions of local authorities. “Without court sanctions, no one can interfere in his private life and monitor his whereabouts. Criminal liability follows under article 137 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation on violation of the inviolability of private life. ” The city administration refused to comment.
During his visit to the capital of Bashkortostan, Ilya Varlamov took a series of photographs about the state of the appearance of the city in anticipation of the Brix and SCO summits.
The first time the blogger arrived in Ufa in the spring of 2015. Then he suggested that mayor Irek Yalalov meet and see the city together. The mayor stated that it is open for communication, but has a too loaded schedule. The head of the information and analytical department of the administration of Ufa Kamil Yulaev noted that “Varlamov should not count on a reward for a positive post. Ufa - for honest grades. "