Sochi architect charged with incitement to extremism

The investigation brought charges against an elderly architect from Sochi, Mikhail Kalyamin. He is being prosecuted under the article on calls for extremism (Part 2 of Article 280 of the Criminal Code) due to statements on the Internet. The Caucasian Knot writes about this.

“The investigator brought charges against me, dated March 24. The indictment already contained completely different statements, not those that the Sochi investigator had previously charged me with, and for which I gave explanations (we are talking about the arrest of Kalyamin in November 2020 - OVD-Info ). As in previous times, phrases were taken out of context, and because of this their meaning was completely changed. I myself am a Russian person, but the investigator saw in my statements calls against Russians, which in itself is absurd. While analyzing other people’s texts and statements, I wrote my own texts, but both times the investigators isolated from the context other people’s phrases that I analyzed, and it was these phrases that served as the basis for initiating a criminal case against me, and not those , whom I quoted and criticized,” said the 64-year-old architect.

Kalyamin’s interests are defended on behalf of the “Caucasian Knot” by lawyer Timur Filippov. “My client Mikhail Kalyamin did not admit guilt. At present, the investigation into the case has been completed, the defense has been familiarized with the case materials. In accordance with the requirements of the law, the case materials will be sent to the regional prosecutor for approval of the indictment,” Filippov said.

In December 2020, Kalyamin was sent to a psychiatric hospital for compulsory examination. In February 2021, the architect was admitted to a hospital for re-examination. Kalyamin is left alone at home with his 93-year-old mother, who cannot get out of bed.

Kalyamin also complained that the investigator three times demanded that he come from Sochi to Krasnodar for investigative actions. “Every time I leave, I think with horror that my mother will die of helplessness without waiting for me,” the Caucasian Knot quotes an elderly man.

• Mikhail Kalyamin was detained on November 24, 2020, he managed to inform his friends about the detention and disappeared from contact. Before this, he was summoned to the FSB, and Kalyamin’s computer was also confiscated. It is known that Kalyamin was included as an “extremist” in the Rosfinmonitoring List of Extremists and Terrorists.
• On December 1, 2020, Kalyamin got in touch. According to the 64-year-old architect, security forces threatened to arrest him, thereby leaving his 93-year-old mother, who needs daily care, without care. Under the threat of arrest, he was forced to sign papers admitting guilt in committing an extremist crime, while Kalyamin did not read these documents, did not know exactly what he was accused of, and did not consider himself guilty. Hesuggested that the case is related to his posts on social networks, in which he criticizes the current government.
• In December, the YouTube channel “With an Open Visor” published an interview with Mikhail Kalyamin.