A lawyer helping opponents of the construction of a mining and processing plant was detained in Chelyabinsk

In Chelyabinsk on the evening of August 26, Vladimir Kazantsev, a lawyer and head of the Ecological Consulting organization, was detained. He is accused of fraud. This was reported in the Stop GOK group on VKontakte. Activists who oppose the construction of a mining and processing plant in Chelyabinsk attribute the persecution of Kazantsev to the fact that he supported them in the courts.

As of the evening of August 26, Kazantsev is in a temporary detention center. It is expected that the court as a measure of restraint will be held on August 28.

Kazantsev’s colleague Irina Tryaskina wrote in the group that on the evening of August 26, the lawyer’s office was first searched, then the security forces went to his house, where they detained him.

An activist of the Stop GOK movement writes in a group that Kazantsev was “warned a week before that a provocation was being prepared against him. So far, two representatives of the firm that used his services have testified against him. They stated that he allegedly took money from them in order to bribe the judge.” In her opinion, the accusation is untrue, and Kazantsev was detained "in order to prevent his participation in the trial of the Tominsky GOK."

Later, Znak.Com published a commentary by the press service of the local police department on the case of Kazantsev. The police claim that “the suspect, while providing legal services, misled the citizen who applied to him, under the pretext of transferring to unidentified officials of the judicial system, allegedly in order to influence the course of the trial, received funds from the client in the amount of 500 thousand rubles ". In addition, then the police revealed "another similar episode of the detainee's illegal activities." The case was initiated under articles on fraud on a large scale using official position (part 3 of article 159 of the Criminal Code) and preparation for fraud by an organized group or on an especially large scale (part 4 of article 159 of the Criminal Code with the application of article 30 of the Criminal Code).

Activist Yevgeny Rozhkov, in an interview with OVD-Info, suggested that Kazantsev's detention could be related to the upcoming visit of President Putin, as well as the elections of deputies to the Legislative Assembly in September. In addition, on September 11, the next court session is expected in the local arbitration court on the claim to recognize the construction of the plant as illegal.

• In June 2018, Kazantsev’s office was searched in connection with a statement by the director of the Tominsky GOK: Valery Ulanovsky claimed that Kazantsev and the head of the Russian Ecological Union “falsified and submitted to various court hearings contracts for the assignment of non-property rights” between the organizations “For Nature” , "Russian Ecological Union" and "Environmental Consulting".
• Residents of Chelyabinsk oppose the local authorities and the Russian Copper Company over the construction of a mining and processing plant. Activists of the “Stop GOK” movement, which appeared back in 2013, hold actions about environmental problems in connection with construction.
• In March 2020, were detained in Chelyabinsk who took part in solo pickets against the construction of the Tominsky GOK. three people