The Investigative Committee did not initiate a criminal case against the coordinator of Navalny’s headquarters in Murmansk

The Investigative Committee in Murmansk did not initiate a case under Article 212.1 of the Criminal Code (repeated violation of the procedure for holding public events) against the coordinator of Alexei Navalny’s headquarters in Murmansk, Violetta Grudina, the activist herself told Mediazona.

“My lawyer and I were already planning to go to the investigator. And literally half an hour before the meeting, the investigator calls me and informs me that there is no need to come, the inspection materials have been transferred to the police, and they will not open a criminal case,” said Grudina.

On March 16, the head of Navalny’s headquarters in Murmansk was summoned to give an explanation to the Investigative Committee. The OVD-Info project reported that it had familiarized itself with a document confirming that Grudina was being investigated under Article 212.1 of the Criminal Code.

On January 28, Grudina was detained at a rally in support of the “voter strike.” The Oktyabrsky District Court of Murmansk found her guilty of organizing a public event without filing a notification (Part 2 of Article 20.2 of the Administrative Code) and fined her 10 thousand rubles.

In December 2015, the court first passed a verdict under Article 212.1 of the Criminal Code. Activist Ildar Dadin was sentenced to two and a half years in prison. However, in February 2017, the Supreme Court overturned the verdict and recognized Dadin's right to rehabilitation. Later, the activist was awarded compensation in the amount of 2 million 200 thousand rubles for illegal criminal prosecution.