Mikhail Benyash was found guilty of violence against police officers and fined 30 thousand rubles

The Leninsky District Court of Krasnodar found lawyer Mikhail Benyash guilty under the article on the use of violence against police officers (part 1 of article 318 of the Criminal Code). He was fined 30 thousand rubles. It is reported by Mediazona.

Judge Diana Belyak initially imposed a fine of 60,000 rubles, but reduced the punishment to 30,000 rubles.

“On the basis of personal hostile relations in order to undermine the authority of the executive authorities,” the verdict says, Benyash “had a criminal intent to commit violence,” Judge Belyak cites the publication.

The court did not take into account the testimony of Irina Barkhatova, whose phone was torn out during the arrest of Benyash. Belyak considered that her story was dictated by a desire to help the defendant.

The court was also critical of the testimony of activist Ramzik ​​Simonyan and human rights activist Sergei Romanov from the Committee Against Torture, who visited Benyash at the police station. The judge stated that their information was not relevant to the case.

At the meeting, the testimony of the traumatologist Nazir Khapsirokov was counted, who, during the examination, did not notice bites on the injured policemen. They were also not taken into account. “During the examination, they did not make a categorical conclusion about the presence of bites,” the judge concluded.

• Lawyer Mikhail Benyash was detained on September 9, 2018, when he was on his way to the detainees at protests against pension reform. During the arrest, the lawyer was beaten. According to the investigation, during the arrest, the lawyer bit one police officer on the hand, and hit the second three times with his elbow in the face. On September 21, the Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case on the use of violence against police officers in connection with this (part 1 of article 318 of the Criminal Code).
• Benyash spent a month in a pre-trial detention center, but was later released on bail of 600,000 rubles.