The Chairman of the Union of Workers of Sevastopol is accused of “intolerance towards the Terek Cossacks”

The Investigative Committee opened a criminal case under Part 1 of Art. 282 of the Criminal Code (inciting hatred or enmity, as well as humiliation of human dignity) in relation to the chairman of the Union of Workers of Sevastopol Valery Bolshakov. The activist himself told OVD-Info about this. Earlier, Bolshakov's acquaintances reported that he was missing.

Bolshakov said that on November 14, employees of the Investigative Committee and the FSB came to his apartment with a search. According to Bolshakov, they first introduced themselves as locksmiths and asked the activist to open the door, as he was flooding the neighbors. After the man refused to open the door, the security forces broke it down.

During the search, Bolshakov’s electronic equipment, seal and party lists of the Russian United Labor Front, various leaflets, as well as a power of attorney addressed to his sick mother and documents in the case of her beating in 2013 were seized from Bolshakov .

The activist also said that the people who conducted the search beat him, he became ill and had to call an ambulance. The doctor, who arrived on a call, wanted to hospitalize Bolshakov, but the security forces did not allow her to do so.

Later, the activist was taken for interrogation to the Investigative Department for the Nakhimovsky District of Sevastopol. The interrogation, according to Bolshakov, lasted seven hours. The state lawyer tried to persuade the activist to plead guilty in exchange for a suspended sentence.

As a result, the man was released on his own recognizance and handed him a decree, which states that Bolshakov “during the period from 01.05.2015 was imbued with ideas of intolerance towards the social group Terek Cossacks and allowed the humiliation of the dignity of this social group.” The resolution also says that the exact date when the activist “imbued with the ideas of intolerance” could not be established. The case is being handled by investigator Mikhail Kitavtsev.

“I am an internationalist, and they are making a fascist out of me,” Valery Bolshakov commented on the accusation.

• On November 13, Bolshak’s account was blocked and he received a certificate from the bank, which stated that: “The Russian National Commercial Bank ... informs you about the failure to carry out a transaction with your funds or other property due to the presence of information about you in the List of organizations and individuals persons in respect of whom there is information about their involvement in extremist activities or terrorism.
• Bolshakov is the secretary of the Sevastopol city organization of the Russian political party "Russian United Labor Front".