In Nizhny Novgorod, the rector of the Temple of the Flying Spaghetti Monster was sent to a pre-trial detention center

In Nizhny Novgorod, police came to the home of Mikhail Iosilevich, rector of the Temple of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. He spoke about this in his Telegram channel.

Iosilevich is accused in the case of an “undesirable organization” (Article 284.1 of the Criminal Code); on October 1, 2020, he was given a preventive measure in the form of a written undertaking not to leave. As the activist himself writes, he did not violate his subscription.

The police presented Iosilevich with an order “to carry out operational-search activities” signed by investigator A. Shlykov, who is handling the case of an “undesirable organization.” In the document, the security officer stated that he sent a petition to the Moskovsky District Court to change the preventive measure and take Iosilevich into custody.

They plan to take the activist to the Investigative Committee “to draw up a protocol of detention.”

On January 31, the Moskovsky District Court sent Mikhail Iosilevich to a pre-trial detention center until February 28, 2021. The investigation petitioned for the arrest of the accused, citing pressure on witness Yaroslav Grach, whose relatives, according to his testimony, were called by someone in the voice of Iosilevich. Kommersant reports this.

According to lawyer Alexei Matasov, Iosilevich did not call the witness, and earlier a prankster played a prank on the witness over the phone.

• On October 1, as part of the case against Iosilevich, security forces conducted searches of Nizhny Novgorod activists: Dmitry Silivonchik, Alexei Sadomovsky, Yuri Shaposhnikov, Roman Tregubov and the editor-in-chief of Koza.press Irina Slavina. Slavina committed self-immolation the next day.
• The case itself arose as a result of an error. According to the case materials, one of the grounds for bringing Iosilevich to criminal liability was the interview of the executive director of Open Russia, Andrei Pivovarov, to the online publication Znak.Com. Pivovarov in an interview says that the independent project “United Democrats” is participating in the election campaign in the Novgorod region, but the Nizhny Novgorod region made the headlines instead of the Novgorod region.
• In April 2017, the Prosecutor General's Office recognized as undesirable several organizations associated with Mikhail Khodorkovsky, registered in the UK and the USA. The Russian Open Russia movement was not banned. Despite this, administrative cases are regularly opened against its activists for participation in the activities of an undesirable organization. On March 30, 2019, Open Russia announced its self-liquidation for security reasons.
• This is the first case known to OVD-Info of placing a defendant in custody in a case involving the activities of an undesirable organization. Until now, only the very first accused in such a case, former member of Open Russia in the Rostov region Anastasia Shevchenko, has had her movements seriously restricted - she is under house arrest . Cases were also brought against the former coordinator of the Yekaterinburg branch Maxim Vernikov , the former coordinator of the Krasnodar branch Yana Antonova , the coordinator of the Tyumen branch Anton Mikhalchuk , the Krasnodar journalist Alexander Savelyev , who collaborated with the MBKh Media portal, and the activist from Krasnodar Leonid Malyavin . Vernikov was sentenced to 300 hours of compulsory labor,Antonova to 240 hours of compulsory labor. Mikhalchuk left the country and was put on the federal wanted list. Savelyev's case was dropped .