The court refused to postpone the compulsory treatment of a person involved in the case of insulting the authorities

The magistrate of court district No. 226 of the Shcherbinovsky district of the Krasnodar Territory refused to defer the execution of a compulsory medical measure against Maxim Sokolov. Sokolov himself informed OVD-Info about this.

On September 20, 2019, the magistrate decided to release Sokolov from criminal liability under articles of slander (Part 1 of Article 128.1 of the Criminal Code) and insulting a government official (Article 319 of the Criminal Code) and sent him for compulsory treatment to a psychiatric hospital.

Sokolov, asking the court to postpone the execution of the decision, emphasized that he could not go to a psychiatric hospital due to restrictive measures introduced in the region in connection with the spread of coronavirus.

However, the court decided not to take Sokolov’s side and justified the refusal by reference to the provision of Article 398 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (deferment of execution of a sentence): supposedly the man is not a convicted person and has no right to ask for a postponement of the execution of a compulsory medical measure.

At the moment, the criminal case against Sokolov has been sent to the Fourth Cassation Court of General Jurisdiction, where consideration of his cassation appeal should begin.

The title was changed after clarification of the procedural status of Maxim Sokolov

• On April 23, 2020, Specialized Psychiatric Hospital No. 3 of the Krasnodar Territory demanded the “immediate” appearance of local resident Maxim Sokolov, whom the court sent for compulsory treatment. A self-isolation regime has been introduced in the region, and the man cannot get to the hospital, which is located in another locality.
• Various appeals from Sokolov to the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Investigative Committee of Russia became a likely reason for criminal prosecution. One of the appeals concerned a possible connection between a local investigator and the administration of a public page on VKontakte, where content similar to child pornography was posted. The case against Sokolov was initiated after a conflict with the head of the local police department, during which the man allegedly insulted a police officer.
• Earlier in the case of Maxim Sokolov there was an episode of slander (Part 1 of Article 128.1 of the Criminal Code) against the investigator of the Yeisk Interdistrict Investigation Department for the Krasnodar Territory, Yuri Ovechko. However, at one of the meetings, the episode was excluded from the case due to the expiration of the statute of limitations, although Sokolov himself objected to the termination of any charges on non-exonerating grounds, including the statute of limitations.