The prosecutor's office asks to sentence nationalist Vladimir Tymoshenko to five years in prison

In St. Petersburg, a debate was held on the case of inciting hatred against government officials.

On November 23, 2017, the Krasnogvardeisky District Court of St. Petersburg held a debate in the case of Vladimir Timoshenko, a native of Kislovodsk. He is accused of inciting hatred towards the social group " employees of institutions and institutions of state power " (part 1 of article 282 of the Criminal Code).

According to the Agora International Human Rights Group, Tymoshenko pleaded not guilty. The prosecutor's office demanded that he be sentenced to five years in a strict regime colony. The defender, lawyer Vitaly Cherkasov, asked to justify Tymoshenko due to the absence of corpus delicti in his actions. " Based on the position of respected experts in the field of sociology and political science and the previously established law enforcement and judicial practice, we are sure that officials do not form a social group. in the context of articles 280 and 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, and Vladimir Timoshenko should not be punished criminally for expressing an opinion on the Internet, no matter how anyone likes his position. "

Recall that Tymoshenko was previously convicted twice: in 2010, by the Novgorod Regional Court for plans to undermine the walls of the Novgorod Kremlin under Part 1 of Art. 223 of the Criminal Code (illegal manufacture of weapons), part 1 of Art. 222 of the Criminal Code (illegal trafficking in weapons) and part 1 of Art. 30, part 1, art. 205 of the Criminal Code (preparation to commit a terrorist attack), as well as in 2011 - by the Kislovodsk city court under Part 1 of Art. 222, part 1 of Art. 223 of the Criminal Code.

According to investigators, in January 2015, while in a colony in the Novgorod region, Tymoshenko dictated a text to his fiancee over the phone, which she published on his behalf in the Slavic Power-Nord West Peterburg community on the VKontakte social network. This text was dedicated to the " struggle " against " the anti-people regime of Putin and its power support - the punitive-repressive apparatus " and contained a call to " deliver a crushing blow " to this apparatus. According to the conclusion of the St Petersburg University Center for Expertise, commissioned by the investigation, this text was offensive and humiliating in relation to the social group represented by employees of institutions and institutions of state power, and was created to inspire the reader with the idea of ​​the need to punish them.

We believe that the prosecution under Art. 282 of the Criminal Code was brought against Tymoshenko unlawfully. First, from our point of view, employees of institutions and institutions of state power do not constitute a vulnerable social group that needs protection in the form of anti-extremist legislation. Secondly, the published text contained only a call for an abstract " crushing blow ", but not for concrete action.

In the diaries that Tymoshenko kept and which were confiscated from him, he clarified what he meant by the punitive and repressive apparatus of the bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the FSB, the prosecutor's office, the Investigative Committee and the courts, and also that he considered it necessary to overthrow the regime by arranging sabotage and carrying out forceful actions against law enforcement organs. However, these texts, in the dissemination of which one could really see the composition of a criminal offense, and not at all according to Art. 282, and under other articles of the Criminal Code, were not published: perhaps Tymoshenko simply did not have time to transfer them. Thus, it cannot be ruled out that Tymoshenko had criminal intentions that he failed to realize. However, wrongful prosecution cannot be justified by the desire to stop another crime.

Sources

• In St. Petersburg, in the case of extremism, the prosecutor asked for 5 years for inciting hatred towards the authorities from the colony // Agora International Human Rights Group. November 23, 2017