Egor Zhukov may have his probation period extended

On October 5, the Kuntsevsky District Court of Moscow will consider the issue of extending the probationary period of the conditionally convicted ex-defendant in the “Moscow case,” YouTube blogger Egor Zhukov. The student magazine DOXA drew attention to the information about the hearing on the court’s website.

The case file on the court website indicates Part 2 of Art. 74 of the Criminal Code, according to which the probationary period can be extended in one of three cases: evasion from fulfilling the duties assigned by the court, evasion from compensation for damage caused by a crime, bringing to administrative liability due to a violation of public order. In all three cases, the probationary period can be extended by no more than one year. Which of the above was the reason for considering the issue of extending Zhukov’s term is currently unknown.

• In December 2019, the court sentenced HSE student Egor Zhukov to three years of suspended imprisonment under the article on calls for extremism via the Internet (Part 2 of Article 280 of the Criminal Code) for videos on YouTube. Zhukov was also given a three-year probationary period and banned from administering websites for two years. In February 2020, the Moscow City Court upheld the verdict, changing only the clause on material evidence and ordering the return of the seized libertarian flag and a figurine in the form of three frogs to Zhukov.
• Initially, Zhukov was accused of participating in mass riots (Part 2 of Article 212 of the Criminal Code) due to the fact that at the rally on July 27 he “made gestures to the right,” which allegedly directed other protesters. Then this charge was dropped , charging him with calls for extremism.
• At the end of August, it became known that the Higher School of Economics expelled Zhukov from the master’s program an hour and a half after enrollment, and closed the “Cinema Art” profile, which he was enrolled in.
• On the same day, Yegor Zhukov was severely beaten by unknown persons near the entrance.