“Hello, your account is blocked”: how in Russia they block accounts for political affairs, and how people live with it

On July 10, it became known about blocking the accounts of Ivan Safronov and his relatives arrested on suspicion of treason. The blocking of accounts to a court decision can affect not only the defendants in the case and their relatives, but even close friends and employer. We asked the lawyer “Human Rights Cards” Anastasia Burakova, how “interim measures” were arranged, and the former coordinator of Navalny’s headquarters in St. Petersburg Denis Mikhailov shared his experience how to live without access to his accounts.

Denis Mikhailov still owes the state seven million rubles for the trampled lawns of St. Petersburg. The former coordinator of the regional headquarters of Navalny must pay for the damage that the city participants caused to the city "He is not a king!" Fifth May 2018. The collection of funds for the payment of the fine “ is over without having time to begin”, now Denis and the Bogdan Litvin lawsuit are disputed by a fine in the Supreme Court. In the meantime, Mikhailov does not have the opportunity to officially use bank cards, rent their apartment or leave Russia.

- I am sitting at home, SMS comes in the evening: "Hello, your account is arrested by 11 million." In all accounts where my money was, the balance immediately flew to minus 11 million. This money is frozen, it is impossible to return it, this applies to any bank accounts in Russian banks. I still have a share in the apartment, it is also arrested, now you can’t make any transactions with this apartment, including renting or re -registered while this debt hangs on me. If I had a car, it would also be taken away.

“A party may apply with a statement on the imposition of interim measures if a civil dispute, investigator or prosecutor, if a criminal case. The court makes a ruling, and the person whose accounts are arrested can only find out about this when trying to pay for purchases in the supermarket, ”lawyer Anastasia Burakova explains MBH Media.

Interim measures are imposed until the court decision and may affect not only the defendant in the civil case or the accused of criminal, but also other persons. According to Anastasia, in practice, investigators do not bother with justifications, as it was in the FBK case , when several dozen activists throughout Russia blocked bank accounts, and even the elderly mother of Jana Antonova’s activists, who had never had a relationship with the policy and the corruption fund.

How locks occur

In criminal cases, accounts for economic crimes are blocked by corruption, in other cases where the victim caused damage, or a penalty is possible, as well as an extremist crimes. In the latter case, interim measures are imposed for a certain period, by its end the investigator submits a new petition, where again in general formulations asks to extend the arrest. The term of arrest on property is extended if the grounds for its application have not disappeared, that is, the investigation in the case has not been completed. “In practice, as, for example, with the Yukos case, this can last for decades,” comments Anastasia Burakova. - In an ideal legal state, the investigator first needs to prove that the money was received illegally, and petition for interim measures only with a sufficient evidence base. Unfortunately, the Russian court has enough general template formulations to block accounts or impose a ban on registration actions with a car or apartment, most of these petitions satisfy without questions. ”

They can block the account through a person in the list of terrorists and extremists of Rosfinmonitoring. The list of Rosfinmonitoring includes people suspects or accused under anti -extremist or anti -terrorist articles - 282.1, 280.1, 205.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and others. The personality of the “new greatness” and “network”, accused of extremism due to memes on VKontakte, Maria Motuznoye, entered the list . Journalist Svetlana Prokopyeva, found guilty of justifying terrorism for the air of the causes of the attack in the Archangel Department of the FSB, is also in the list of Rosfinmonitoring.

Whose accounts can still be blocked

To fall under the blocking of accounts, it is not necessary to have a status in any case. The wording of the Code of Criminal Procedure mentions "other persons who carry material liability for their actions by law." As Burakova mentioned, in practice people without a witness status, a suspect or accused also face blocking accounts and property. This happened during the consideration of the case of Colonel Dmitry Zakharchenko, when the arrest was imposed on the property of familiar colonel, his former cohabitants. The Constitutional Court recognized such actions legal. “This is a very dangerous precedent,” says Burakova, “after all, control over expenses in relation to income is applicable to officials, their spouses and minor children, the Prosecutor General’s Office could not provide evidence that“ extra ”funds were received from Zakharchenko’s pocket. However, the Constitutional Court did not embarrass that it created a dangerous precedent - in fact, any school friend of the persecuted person can fall under the blow. ”

How to live after blocking accounts

In the case of blocking accounts on a court decision, it is impossible to use funds. We will have to transfer all social payments and wages in cash. If a person is included in the list of terrorists and extremists, then upon his application, the bank issues funds in the amount of 10,000 rubles per person (if there is someone on dependent). The arrest can be appealed, but in political affairs this rarely succeeds. After the court decision enters into force, not in favor of a person with blocked accounts, the following blocking is already carried out by the bailiff service in the framework of enforcement proceedings. Denis Mikhailov compares the life with blocked accounts with “Civil Death”: a person cannot open an account in his name, buy a car or apartment.

Denis advises to take measures in advance: “If a person is engaged in opposition activities and he understands that the authorities can attract him to some such activities, it is easier not to have his own accounts in banks or have cards on which modest amounts to pay for nothing: food, travel. But do not store money on large accounts. It is better not to own real estate or car, to arrange for relatives, it is preferably not even on the closest, because if this is a criminal case, then from close relatives they can also recover something. It is also better to arrange cards for their relatives, many do this. From such cards, I can’t pay something officially, for example, a tax or something else that requires state duty, but at the same time a person can live calmly so as not to carry trifles with him, you can use money on these cards, they will no longer be arrested. When the court has already taken place and there is a specific surname, who is the debtor, no one will recover from relatives. If a person receives such a fine, he has to either quit and work unofficially, or be prepared for the fact that he will take half the amount from him. ”

“The most important thing is not to lose heart,” says Mikhailov, “because if you are attracted as a political activist, and not as a malicious debtor, it is better to immediately tell about it, turn to the public, I think no one will leave in trouble.”

“But you were left?”

- Yes, this happens too. I just hope that the ECHR will cancel it.