A verdict has been handed down in the case of the IGPR "ZOV"

Yuri Mukhin was sentenced to a suspended sentence, Valery Parfenov, Alexander Sokolov and Kirill Barabash received from three and a half to four years in prison.

On August 10, 2017, the Tverskoy Court of Moscow found members of the Initiative Group for the Referendum "For Responsible Power" (IGPR "ZOV"), publicist Yuri Mukhin and his associates Valery Parfenov, Alexander Sokolov and Kirill Barabash guilty of organizing the activities of an extremist organization (part 1 of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code). For the continuation of the activities of the banned "Army of the Will of the People" (AVN), Mukhin was sentenced to four years of imprisonment with a suspended sentence of one year and a four-year probationary period, Sokolov - to three years and six months in a penal colony, Parfenov and Barabash - to four years in prison, all three - with a restriction of freedom for a year. Barabash was also stripped of his military rank of lieutenant colonel in the Air Force reserve.

The public prosecutor asked to sentence Mukhin to four and a half years in prison, and the rest to four years.

Criminal cases under Part 1 of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code (organization of the activities of an extremist organization) against the former leader of the banned AVN, editor-in-chief of the Duel newspaper Mukhin, as well as Sokolov and Parfenov, were initiated in the summer of 2015, all three were arrested. The cases were then merged, Mukhin was released under house arrest in August 2015. In December 2015, a similar charge was brought against Barabash, he was also arrested. In March 2016, searches was separated into a separate proceeding were carried out at the homes of other activists of the IGPR "ZOV", in June the case on the participation of unidentified persons in a banned organization (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code) . Since August 2016, Sokolov's lawyers have been claiming that the time limit for his detention was exceeded. In November 2016, the court began considering the case.

Mukhin, Sokolov, Parfyonov and Barabash were accused of "being actively engaged in political activities, positioning themselves as opposition-minded persons to the state authorities of the Russian Federation ", " under the plausible pretext of organizing and holding a referendum " on the adoption of an amendment to the Constitution and the law "On the trial of the people of Russia over the president and members of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation" wanted to continue the activities of the extremist organization. At the same time, according to the investigation, the " main and only goal " of the organization was to distribute extremist materials, however, the criminal intent of the ZOV activists was not brought to an end, since the activities of the extremist organization were suppressed by law enforcement agencies. The line of defense was based on the fact that the activities of the IGPR "ZOV" were not a continuation of the activities of the AVN. As Mukhin stated, “ The Interregional Public Movement“ For Responsible Power ”(MOD ZOV) was organized three years before the closure of the AVN, and it began to create an initiative group to hold a referendum back in 2010 ".

The Human Rights Center "Memorial" considers Mukhin, Sokolov, Parfenov and Barabash political prisoners . Commissioner for Human Rights Tatyana Moskalkova in June 2016 sent an appeal to the Prosecutor General's Office with a request to check the legality and legality of the decisions taken in the Sokolov case. On August 1, Reporters Without Borders called on the Russian authorities to immediately release journalist Sokolov.

We believe that the ban on the AVN, an organization of the Stalinist-nationalist persuasion that has been repeatedly seen in xenophobic propaganda, was unjustified, since the decision to recognize the movement as extremist was based only on the ban on the leaflet "You have chosen - you will be the judge!", which seems unreasonable to us. Read more about our position here .

Sources

• The court sentenced the defendants in the case of the "Army of the Will of the People" to terms of four years probation to four years in prison // City News Agency "Moscow". 2017. August 10.
• RBC journalist Sokolov received 3.5 years in prison for extremism // Interfax. 2017. August 10.