The court extended the arrest of BlogSochi editor Alexander Valov

Judge of the Central District Court of Sochi Valery Butyaev on July 18 extended the arrest of the editor of the public "BlogSochi" Alexander Valov, accused of extorting 300 thousand rubles from a local official. about this . writes The "Caucasian Knot"

The term of Valov's detention was extended until September 19.

At the meeting, the court rejected a petition to mitigate the measure of restraint, which was filed by the blogger of the BlogSochi website Roman Dyakov, Valov's public defender. Judge Butyaev considered that the arrested person could hide from the investigation, “continue to engage in criminal activities and put pressure on witnesses.”

Judge Butyaev drew attention to the fact that the higher courts rejected four times the appeals against the extension of Valov's arrest, and also that the prisoner had no diseases. Therefore, according to the judge, he has no reason to soften the measure of restraint.

In response to this, Valov and his defenders stated that they intended to appeal against this court decision as well.

Sergei Kostyuk, Valov's lawyer, commented for the "Caucasian Knot" on the position of the prosecution and the judge:

The arguments of the investigator, the court and the prosecutor that Valov will start writing again, and thereby continue his criminal activities, indicate that law enforcement officers are most concerned not with the fact of extortion, but with the fact that Valov will start writing and expressing his opinion. But this is the fundamental right of every citizen of Russia to have their own opinion.

At the end of June, the court extended the arrest of the editor of BlogSochi, despite a wound in the stomach - according to the investigator, while in the pre-trial detention center, Valov pierced his stomach with a pen.

• Valov was detained on January 19 after a search of his apartment. The investigation believes that he extorted 300 thousand from the State Duma deputy from the Liberal Democratic Party Yuri Napso. Napso filed this application on 19 January. The defense believes that the investigation did not provide evidence of Valov's guilt.
• On January 21, Judge Ruslan Taygibov of the Central District Court of Sochi arrested the blogger until March 19, 2018. Valov demanded the removal of the judge, as he wrote critical material about him and doubted Taigibov's impartiality. The judge stated that he did not read this text.