The Supreme Court refused to accept the defense statement in the case of Konstantin Kotov

The Supreme Court refused to accept the statement of the defense side Konstantin Kotov addressed to the chairman of the court Vyacheslav Lebedev. Maria Eismont, a lawyer from OVD-Info, representing Kotov’s interests, spoke about this on her Facebook.

The defense asked Lebedev to immediately contact the presidium of the court to review the sentence of Kotov, who was sentenced to four years in prison under the article of repeated violation of the rules of participation in the action (Article 212.1 of the Criminal Code).

This request was related to the position of the Constitutional Court, which on January 27, in its ruling, indicated : the case of Konstantin Kotov is subject to review.

According to Eismont, the Supreme Court refused to accept the defense’s statement because it does not consider the Constitutional Court’s determination as a new circumstance.

The court referred to the provisions of Article 413 of the Code of Criminal Procedure: a new circumstance could be “the recognition by the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation of the law applied by the court in this criminal case as inconsistent with the Constitution of the Russian Federation.” The Constitutional Court did not make such a decision, so the Supreme Court decided that there were no grounds for review.

“In the Kotov case, indeed, the Constitutional Court (much to the regret of the authors of the complaint) did not recognize the norm itself, Art. 212.1 of the Criminal Code does not comply with the Constitution. Just as he did not recognize Article 212.1 of the Criminal Code as inconsistent with the Constitution in the case of Ildar Dadin, whose sentence was reviewed by the Presidium of the Supreme Court. We, of course, assumed the possibility of such a response,” writes Eismont.

The lawyer noted that the defense has already filed a cassation appeal against Kotov’s sentence.

Yuri Artyomovich Kostanov, chairman of the presidium of the Moscow Bar Association “Advocate Partnership” and lawyer of Konstantin Kotov, in a conversation with OVD-Info, noted that the Constitutional Court in its ruling in Kotov’s case refers to the provisions of the Constitutional Court’s ruling in the Dadin case of 2017. The definition reminds the courts that in cases of repeated violations at public events, they must be guided by the constitutional meaning of Article 212.1 of the Criminal Code, which has remained unchanged since the decision in the Dadin case. Therefore, according to the lawyer, the ruling of the Constitutional Court in the Kotov case is applicable to his case in the same way as the ruling in the Dadin case in that case.

“Today’s decision of the Supreme Court is not good, firstly, because it is illiterate. Unfortunately, for me, such decisions of the Supreme Court, which are absolutely wrong, are not news.

They say two lawyers, three opinions, and this often happens. But Kotov’s case is as clear as a multiplication table.

Kotov’s case is ugly and ignorant, not only because of the definition of the Constitutional Court. Article 212.1 of the Criminal Code has a constituent feature - organizing or holding a public event. This is not the same as participation. Kotov had 4 episodes in his case, only one of them was organization, and the court excluded him from the charges. 3 episodes about participation - no crime! No one saw this in court.

If the Constitutional Court wrote that 212.1 of the Criminal Code complies with the Constitution only if there is a real threat to life and health [and property], then the Supreme Court could say that this means that this law in the Kotov case was not applied in accordance with the constitutional meaning.

One gets the impression that we are talking about some kind of butting: the Supreme Court was forced to reconsider Dadin’s case because of the decision of the Constitutional Court, and then it seemed to him [the Supreme Court] that they could throw a counter ball. But this is not tennis or football, we are talking about the fate of a person. They gave me 4 years out of nowhere. This is some kind of jealousy, an attempt to prevent the Constitutional Court from influencing the decision of the Supreme Court. There must be considerations for the triumph of justice!

Supreme Court Judge Khlebnikov, who at one time dealt with Dadin’s case, returned the complaint without consideration. The Supreme Court completely groundlessly rejected the definition of the Constitutional Court,” said Kostanov.

• Konstantin Kotov in penal colony No. 2 of the Vladimir region was given two reprimands: the first for using someone else’s gloves when lining up on the street, the second for allegedly not saying hello to a colony employee.
• On September 5, civil activist Konstantin Kotov was sentenced to four years in prison under the “Dada” article (Article 212.1 of the Criminal Code) due to participation in a rally in support of Azat Miftakhov , a gathering “In Defense of the New Generation” near the FSB building, a rally in support of Ivan Golunov and during a walk after a rally for fair elections on August 10, as well as a call to go to Trubnaya Square because independent candidates were not allowed to the Moscow City Duma before the elections.
• 14 lawyers filed an appeal against the verdict against Konstantin Kotov. An agreement was concluded with each of them for the amount of 212 rubles 10 kopecks. The Moscow City Court left the verdict unchanged .