The investigation into the case of Alexander Belov has been completed

On September 8, 2015, in Moscow it became known that the investigation had been completed against one of the leaders of the Russian Association, Alexander Belov (Potkin). As stated by lawyer Ivan Mironov, A. Belov was charged in the final version with creating an extremist community with the aim of overthrowing the constitutional system of Kazakhstan, inciting national hatred and public calls for extremist activities, as well as money laundering. In October 2015, the Moscow City Court extended the arrest of A. Belov until January 15, 2016.

On September 8, 2015, a criminal investigation was completed in Moscow against one of the leaders of the Russian Association, Alexander Belov (Potkin). In the final version, the nationalist is accused under Art. 282 of the Criminal Code (incitement of national hatred), Art. 280 of the Criminal Code (public calls for extremist activities), Art. 282.1 (creation of an extremist community) and Art. 174 (legalization of funds obtained by criminal means).

Let us recall that the nationalist was detained on October 15, 2014 in Moscow at the Intourist Kolomenskoye hotel. The detention was carried out as part of a criminal investigation under Art. 174 of the Criminal Code about the theft of $5 billion from Russian and Ukrainian depositors of the Kazakh BTA Bank. Subsequently, investigators added charges to the case under Art. 282 of the Criminal Code. In mid-August 2015, another criminal case was opened against A. Belov in Moscow under Art. 280 of the Criminal Code (public calls for extremist activities) for a video published on the Internet. One of the last episodes in Potkin’s criminal case was the episode about the creation of an extremist community in Kazakhstan. The investigator stated that the case about the creation of an extremist community was initiated on the basis of a petition that was sent from the Prosecutor General's Office of Kazakhstan to the Deputy Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation. This document reported that a criminal case was being investigated against Alexander Potkin, initiated under Art. 164 of the Criminal Code of Kazakhstan (inciting ethnic hatred). In addition to Belov, some activists of The Other Russia are involved in the case.

On October 17, the capital's Tver Court authorized Belov's house arrest until November 30. On October 23, the same court changed his preventive measure to detention in a pre-trial detention center. At the end of February, the Tverskoy court extended the detention period until May 31. The court found convincing the investigators' arguments that the accused, while at large, could escape because he has an open Schengen visa. At the end of May, the Khamovnichesky Court of Moscow extended his period of detention until October 15. In June, experts declared Belov fully sane. A psychiatric examination was ordered for the leader of the "Russians" after he allegedly ate a certain document - one of the pieces of evidence found on him during a search.

Alexander Belov himself does not admit his guilt. In his opinion, his criminal prosecution is revenge on the part of the FSB for refusing to cooperate with them and slandering the Kazakh opposition.

In October 2015, the Moscow City Court extended A. Belov’s arrest until January 15, 2016. The defense asked to return the leader of the Russian Association to house arrest.

On October 16, 2015, A. Belov (Potkin) filed a statement with the Investigative Committee about a threat of murder from the investigator leading his case, Ravil Shaidullin. The Khamovnichesky Court of Moscow ordered Alexander Belov to familiarize himself with the case materials before December 4. The defense asked not to limit Potkin's time for familiarizing himself with the case. The nationalist himself asked to be given until February. According to defense lawyer Ivan Mironov, the investigator threatened his client with physical harm if he did not soon finish familiarizing himself with the case materials. “ The investigator wrote me an SMS that if Potkin does not sign Article 217 (Article 217 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation - familiarization with the case materials), then the subscriber ... will kill him. He will bring a screwdriver to the isolation ward, according to him, he has already done this, and will try to stick it into his eye. If this does not lead to death, then he may break his neck or be hit with an awl ,” the defense lawyer said. Belov confirmed the words of his lawyer. “ The next day, according to my client, the investigator actually came to the pre-trial detention center with a screwdriver and threatened Potkin for three hours ,” the lawyer added. I. Mironov provided the court and the prosecutor with copies of the SMS correspondence. The investigator confirmed that this was his phone number. “ Yes, this is my number, but I consider it a provocation. A fake SIM card with my number was probably made ,” he said.

Sources

• Kozlov V. In the case of Alexander Potkin, a Kazakh trace was confirmed // Kommersant. 2015. September 8.
• The Moscow City Court extended the arrest period for ex-leader of the DPNI Belov (Potkin) // RAPSI. 2015. October 6.
• The Moscow court limited the time limit for the nationalist Potkin to familiarize himself with the case // RAPSI. 2015. October 16.
• Potkin’s defense stated that the investigator was threatening to kill the nationalist // ovdinfo.org. 2015. October 16.