The court refused to return to the prosecutor's office the case of a COVID dissident accused of organizing protests

The Rostov Regional Court held a regular hearing in the case of opera singer and COVID-dissident Vadim Cheldiev, who is accused of organizing a people's gathering against the self-isolation regime. His defense petitioned for the case to be returned to the prosecutor's office, based on the fact that the prosecution did not indicate the motive for the crime, but the court refused to return the case. This is reported by the "Caucasian Knot".

By law, the indictment must include the motives for the crime ( part 1 of article 220 of the Code of Criminal Procedure ), otherwise the case must be returned to the prosecutor's office ( part 1 of article 237 of the Code of Criminal Procedure ). Cheldiev's lawyer, Batraz Kulchiev, said that the public prosecutor "generally agreed that there was no motive, but considered that this was not a basis for returning the case to the prosecutor."

Cheldiev is charged under four criminal articles: in organizing mass riots ( part 1 of article 212 of the Criminal Code with the application of part 3 of article 33 of the Criminal Code); in the public dissemination of deliberately false information about circumstances that pose a threat to the life and safety of citizens ( Article 207.1 of the Criminal Code ); in the use of violence against a representative of authority ( part 1 of article 318 of the Criminal Code ); in public calls for the implementation of extremist activities ( Article 280 of the Criminal Code ).

• On April 20, 2020, a people's gathering took place in the center of Vladikavkaz against the self-isolation regime. About two thousand people took part in the action. The protesters were brutally dispersed by riot police, and as a result, 69 people were detained. As of autumn 2021, 36 people are involved in the case, most of them were charged with participation in mass riots, ten people were sentenced to real prison terms in July.
• Vadim Cheldiev is a COVID-dissident, baritone opera singer and supporter of the ideas of Citizens of the USSR, who accused the authorities of North Ossetia of lying in connection with the coronavirus pandemic.
• On September 21, the alleged organizers of the rally against the self-isolation regime in Vladikavkaz - Vadim Cheldiev, Ramis Chirkinov and Arsen Besolov - extended their stay in the pre-trial detention center for six months.