Why did the deputies ask Putin to accuse Putin

On September 7, opposition deputies of the Smolninskoye Moscow Region from St. Petersburg accepted an appeal in which they asked the State Duma to accuse President Vladimir Putin of Gosizmen for the decision to start a war. Although the document has not yet been transmitted to the address, it has already caused a wide resonance and attracted the attention of the security forces. On the five deputies who approved the appeal of the deputies on September 9, they drew up protocols on the “discredit” of the Russian army.

“Paper” spoke with two protocols of the deputies of the Smolninskoye MO - Dmitry Baltrukov and Nikita Yuferv - about why they dared and filed this appeal.

What is the meaning of the requirement to blame Putin of Gosizmen

Dmitry Baltrukov: This is an article [about the Stateizer], according to which it is the State Duma deputies that can initiate the consideration procedure. Other articles require the intervention of the court, the prosecutor.

Citizens chose us. And we have many appeals from them with a request to declare our position. It’s fraught to get out something now, so they are asking us-and we, as the Council, have found a way that is formally legally clean. One authority turned to another authority. On the one hand, this is not a public appeal, on the other hand, the activities of the municipal council are publicly carried out.

Nikita Yuferv: This is not our first appeal. On February 24, we applied for a rally against the war, for peace with Ukraine - then it was still possible to use such a terminology. Naturally, we were denied covid restrictions, because at such rallies, Covid is simply rampant.

We decided to make a meeting on March 2 open. We announced that we will accept appeals to the president about the need to stop the “special operation”. About a hundred people came, which is a lot for our meetings. Several cars with riot police arrived, but everything went quite peacefully, we accepted the appeal and sent the president - unfortunately, we did not receive an answer to him.

In August, I personally sent an appeal to Putin, asked him to give an order to complete the “special military operation” “for humanitarian reasons”. They answered me from his office that the appeal was considered, "notify that a special military operation is being carried out."

And so, the deputy Palyuga suggested turning to the State Duma to resign Putin for the Stateizer. Ten deputies came, this is enough for the quorum. [The acting head of the municipality Grigory] Rankov, of course, fled. In principle, he does not go to meetings, because he is a bad chapter and does not fulfill his duties.

We understand that neither Putin nor the State Duma deputies to our letters will react positively and no special operation will end. But these appeals produce an effect on the inhabitants of our country, on our voters. It is important for us to maintain the feeling that people who oppose the “special military operation” are not alone. It is very important for them to show that in our country, despite all the beliefs of propaganda, as if everyone supports a “special military operation”, there are people who do not support that there are many of us.

What about contacting the State Duma says the acting head of the municipality ↓

The acting head of the unicorn municipality, Grigory Rankov, on the website of the Smolninskoye MO website, stated that the meeting of deputies on September 7 "did not take the nature of the meeting of the Council." He also claims that only he has the right to convene advice and that eight deputies participated in the meeting, not ten. He regarded the meeting of deputies as “a provocation and an attempt to discredit the rest of the deputies of the Council” and himself.

How deputies prepared an appeal

Dmitry Baltrukov: There are two forms of advice of advice prescribed in the regulations. The first - [it] may be the chapter. In our opinion, he owes in the days prescribed by regulations to convene advice. The second - a third of the deputies can send the chapter the requirement to convene a council. If he did not call the Council, then the deputies who sent the demand have the right to convene advice on their own.

By date, it was a planned meeting and the head was obliged to convene it, but he did not. Therefore, we went through the second mechanism. Gently and clearly completed all the necessary procedures. They came, traditionally called the door, no one opened us, did not let us in, so we started the meeting, as usual, on the porch. This is part of our legal position that the porch is part of the building, so we observe the regulations on the place of the Council.

Why are the deputies of Smolninsky forced to hold meetings on the porch ↓

According to the results of the 2019 elections, the opposition took 16 out of 20 seats in the Smolninsky Council, but could not agree and choose the chapter. Because of this, the temporary powers remained with the former head, “United Russia” Grigory Rankov. Rankov regularly sabotages the work of opposition deputies and does not allow them to the municipality building, which is why they are forced to hold meetings on the porch. Read more about the conflict here and here .

The question that we discussed was made by the deputy [Dmitry] Palyuga from the voice, the regulation allows this. The discussion was minimal. There were ten deputies, the seven were “for”. According to the regulations, this was enough to make a decision.

As for the signature of the [acting] of the chapter ... according to the regulations, if the head [of the municipality] does not sign [the document], he signs the presiding judge at the meeting or another person determined by the deputies. This is ten days after the meeting of the Council. We will definitely send the protocol and the decision to the chapter - I think, already today. If he does not sign, he will sign a person determined by the deputies - and send a letter [to the State Duma]. The federal law says that they [State Duma deputies] are obliged to consider our appeal and give an answer within 30 days.

Why the appeal caused a resonance

Dmitry Baltrukov: Apparently, now the media situation is such that a false impression of a single support [war] is being created. Therefore, a statement that does not fit into this media scheme causes a shock. And this is still the appeal of the authority, it is a precedent.

Nikita Yuferv: There is a demand for such appeals. People within Russia are intimidated. Many do not support military operations in Ukraine, but cannot express their opinion, because it turns out, illegally. We have no deputies who represent their opinion. Therefore, municipal deputies have to be puffed out. It is important for people to hear, to know that they are not alone.

What risks do deputies see

Dmitry Baltrukov: On February 24, I and a group of deputies submitted a notification of the anti -war rally and posted a post in my social networks about this. We were denied holding, the prosecutor's office issued a warning - and it seems that all this was forgotten. And on August 5, they called me [to the police department] and drew up a protocol that this post was supposedly discredited by the army. There was no court yet, he was not even appointed.

At this moment, I think the risks are limited to two fines of a maximum of 50 thousand [rubles each]. Even if the district court makes a decision, there will be a appeal, because in neither the first nor in the second case I see the composition of the offense.

Nikita Yuferv: Five deputies of the Smolninskoye MO today came out [from the police department] with protocols under the article on the “discredit” of the army. After the second protocol, a criminal case is possible. We will responsibly approach the weighing of risks. But we hope that all these protocols can be repulsed, because we did not commit anything illegal, we acted within the framework of our powers and federal legislation.

What are the two sentences for the "discredit" of the army? ↓

The administrative article on the “discredit” of the Russian army (20.3.3 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation) implies a fine of up to 50 thousand rubles. However, if within one year a person brought to administrative responsibility under an article on the “discredit” of the army will be brought again, this may serve as the basis for initiating a criminal case under Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. According to it, the accused faces until three years in prison. So far, in Russia, isolated cases of involvement under this article are known. The former mayor of Yekaterinburg Evgeny Roizman is the accused under the article on re -“discrediting”.

Whether the Council of "Smolninsky" will be disclosed

Dmitry Baltrukov: The law has exactly two grounds for the dissolution of the Council: non-fulfillment of the court decision on amendments to the regulatory acts recognized as illegal and the absence of meetings for more than three months in a row.

Both one and on another basis, the prosecutor’s office still [the past] in the fall appealed to the Smolninsky District Court demanding that we dissolve us. We won one court to fail to fulfill the decision in the first instance (but so far I have no data, whether the prosecutor's office appealed this decision, the deadlines have not yet been released).

On the second basis, the meeting will be next week. At previous meetings, we watched the video of 12 of our meetings, so I don’t know how the court will admit that we were not going to. In any case, this process is long. If the court makes a decision, we have a month to appeal, then consideration in the City Court. Even when the court decision enters into force, then the governor must submit to the Legislative a draft law of St. Petersburg on dissolution. And only when the Legislative Assembly accepts this law, the municipal council will be considered dissolved. This is a long procedure, and, as far as I know, there are no particular precedents.

Why are the appeals of the deputies of "Smolninsky" important

Dmitry Baltrukov: Firstly, we have a noticeable influence on urban policy at least what we show-it is possible. Secondly, all of our courts have an important precedent value. I mainly deal with the courts from the Council, so municipal councils from different regions of Russia are addressing me and rely on our precedents.

Of course, I would like us to deal with everyday tasks more, but our opponents cut us off from this. We made many improvement decisions, on procedures, on the structure of the administration (because the maintenance of the administration is now eating about 60 % of the budget, this is not at any gate). But our decisions are ignored, appealed, dragged around the courts.

If in one phrase: as a deputy, I am not ashamed of our activities before voters.

What else to read:

• The defendant of anti -war affair Igor Maltsev turned out to be the son of a veteran of the Chechen war, suffering from PTSD. Here is his story .
• The Petersburg teacher is about how he challenged dismissal because of an anti-war position and sued the school salary .

Photo on the cover: Nikita Yuferv / Twitter