In Cheboksary, the court returned the report on the former coordinator of Navalny’s local headquarters to the prosecutor’s office • OVD-Info • RIMA

In Cheboksary, the court returned the report on the former coordinator of Navalny’s local headquarters to the prosecutor’s office

The magistrate of court district No. 5 of the Moskovsky district of Cheboksary returned the protocol against the former coordinator of Navalny’s local headquarters, Semyon Kochkin, to the prosecutor’s office. This was reported by Idel.Realii.

“Now the magistrate has returned the protocol to the prosecutor’s office of the Moskovsky district of Cheboksary, since it was drawn up in the absence of the person involved,” lawyer Roman Raimov, who represents the interests of the oppositionist, told the publication.

In November, Kochkin was fined two thousand rubles under the article on abuse of freedom of mass information (Part 2 of Article 13.15 of the Administrative Code). The reason for the protocol was 15 tweets made by the oppositionist back in 2019. The publications mentioned the Anti-Corruption Foundation and Navalny’s headquarters in Cheboksary, which at that time were not yet recognized as extremist organizations. On December 13, the Moskovsky District Court of Cheboksary canceled this fine and sent the case for a new trial.

On October 12, the former head of Navalny’s headquarters in Cheboksary, Semyon Kochkin, left Russia due to fears that he might become involved in a criminal case on the creation of an extremist community (Article 282.1 of the Criminal Code). A case under this article was opened against Navalny himself and his supporters at the end of September.
On October 15, the Moscow District Court of Cheboksary fined Kochkin three thousand rubles because of posts with links to “Smart Voting.” He was found guilty under the article on displaying symbols of a banned organization (Part 1 of Article 20.3 of the Administrative Code).
On June 9, 2021, the Moscow City Court recognized the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), the Foundation for the Protection of Citizens' Rights (FZPG) and the headquarters of Alexei Navalny as extremist organizations. An appeals court later upheld this decision.