The persecution of the ex-activist of the banned "People's Will Army" has been stopped

The investigative unit of the Main Investigation Department of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Nizhny Novgorod Region terminated the criminal case against activist Pavel Butko, who was accused of “organizing the activities of a public association, in respect of which the court made a final decision to liquidate or ban activities in connection with the implementation of extremist activities” , said lawyer Yevgeny Gubin.

Earlier, the prosecutor refused to sign the indictment in this criminal case, did not send it to the court and returned the case to the investigator to eliminate the violations. As a result, the case was dismissed due to the expiration of the statute of limitations for criminal liability.

The basis for the criminal prosecution of Pavel Butko was the fact that Butko's phone number was listed as a contact on the website of the banned organization People's Will Army (AVN). During the investigation, Butko himself argued that the accusation was absurd, since the organization had not existed since 2011, and his phone number remained on the site, since he really participated in the AVN (the organization is prohibited) before the court banned its activities and was its only member in Nizhny Novgorod .