The prosecution asked the head of the Union of Workers of Sevastopol for 4 years in prison due to comments and picketing

At a meeting of the Nakhimovsky District Court of Sevastopol on October 23, the prosecution requested four years in prison for the head of the local workers' union Valery Bolshakov, a defendant in the case of calls for extremism (Article 280 of the Criminal Code). This was reported by Crimea. Realities."

The prosecutor believes that Bolshakov should be sent to a colony for four years with a possible probationary period of four years and a ban on holding administrative positions.

According to the prosecution, Valery Bolshakov, in comments on VKontakte in 2017 and at a single picket in 2016, called for extremist activities, a change of power in Russia, insulting Cossack formations and posting extremist materials on VKontakte pages, the correspondent reports. Crimea. Realities."

The prosecution also stated that the conclusion of the linguistic examination of Bolshakov’s statements, which was carried out by experts from the Russian Investigative Committee, cannot be challenged by outside experts. The defense insists that such a conclusion should not be taken into account in the case due to a conflict of interest.

The defense argues that Bolshakov has no motive to call for extremist activities. “Bolshakov is a supporter of Marxist-Leninist teaching and in his speeches he simply quoted Vladimir Lenin,” the publication quotes the lawyer as saying.

In addition, the lawyer noted, the works of Vladimir Lenin and Karl Marx are not included in the list of extremist materials.

“My statements are classics of Marxism-Leninism. It is impossible to combine five different comments on social networks into one and judge,” Valery Bolshakov himself spoke in the debate. He is expected to be sentenced on October 26.

• In June 2019, Valery Bolshakov was sentenced to two and a half years of probation in the case of public calls for extremism via the Internet (Part 2 of Article 280 of the Criminal Code) and without the help of the Internet (Part 1 of Article 280 of the Criminal Code). According to the court, between May 1, 2015 and August 14, 2017, the activist posted posts on the VKontakte social network calling for the overthrow of the “Putin regime.” The investigation also believed that Bolshakov held a single picket, imbued with a “persistent hostile and intolerant attitude towards government officials.”
• On appeal in March 2020, Bolshakov’s sentence was overturned, and the case was returned to the trial court for review due to shortcomings made by the prosecutor’s office. In July, the case began to be considered again.
• Lawyer Alexey Ladin considers the reason for the initiation of the case and the verdict to be Bolshakov’s political position - he is the secretary of the Sevastopol city organization of the Russian political party “Russian United Labor Front”.