The Moscow City Court left under arrest the administrator of the “Police Ombudsman” public page.

The Moscow City Court left in custody the administrator of the “Police Ombudsman” public page, Igor Khudyakov. This was reported by OVD-Info lawyer Maxim Pashkov, who represents Khudyakov’s interests.

“The impression was that I was an evil lawbreaker who was sending gigabytes of pornography over the Internet. For one photo posted in a closed VK chat, it seems inhumane to keep me in custody, I ask you to choose a preventive measure that is not related to being in custody,” Khudyakov was quoted as saying in court by MBKh Media.

Pashkov commented on the court’s decision in his Telegram channel: “At the exit, I was asked whether the measure was justified. If forwarding a frivolous picture to a friend is a fatal and extremely dangerous crime that warrants jail time, then yes.”

• On May 23, 2020, Khudyakov’s home in Vologda was searched as part of a case of production and trafficking of pornography (Part 3 of Article 242 of the Criminal Code). After investigative actions, the security forces announced that they planned to take Khudyakov to Moscow. For about a day there was no information about Khudyakov’s whereabouts. On the afternoon of May 24, 2020, members of the Public Monitoring Committee found him in the temporary detention center at Petrovka 38. The police did not allow lawyer Maxim Pashkov into the detention center to see his client.
• “Police Ombudsman” was originally a group on VKontakte , created by Vladimir Vorontsov when he worked in the police and Center “E”, then pages appeared on other social networks. The public information about violations of the rights of employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and criticism of the work of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is covered. One of the latest high-profile publications of the “Police Ombudsman” is a recording of a voice allegedly belonging to the head of the Novosibirsk city department, Elena Ustinova, who gives orders “total” to draw up protocols on violation of self-isolation and to work “until there are 10 protocols from each district,” with reference on the resolution of the head of the Central Internal Affairs Directorate for the Novosibirsk region, Yuri Sterlikov. The “Police Ombudsman” called for filing requests for an internal audit. A few days later, Sterlikov resigned, and Ustinova was fired “for negative reasons.”
• Vorontsov was charged under the article on extortion committed by a group of persons on a large scale (clauses “a” and “d”, part 2 of article 163 of the Criminal Code). According to investigators, Vorontsov demanded 300 thousand rubles from a police officer for not distributing intimate photographs, which then ended up in the public domain. On May 7,they came to Vorontsov’s apartment with a search, and the security forces entered the apartment through a window, descending from the roof on ropes; the next day, the court chose a preventive measure in the form of detention. On May 29, it became known that Vorontsov was also accused of illegal trafficking and production of pornographic materials by a group of persons (Part 3 of Article 242 of the Criminal Code).