The court approved the sentences of the participants of the rally against coronavirus restrictions in Vladikavkaz

The Third Court of Appeal of General Jurisdiction in Sochi rejected appeals against the sentences of Vadim Cheldiev, Arsen Besolov and Ramis Chirkinov, participants of the rally in Vladikavkaz against the self-isolation regime, “Caucasian Knot”.

reports In July, the Rostov Regional Court sentenced opera singer Vadim Cheldiev to 10 years in a maximum security colony: the investigation considered him the organizer of a people’s gathering against coronavirus restrictions, which took place in Vladikavkaz on April 20, 2020.

sentenced Cheldiyev was convicted under articles about “fakes” about coronavirus (Article 207.1 of the Criminal Code), about the use of violence against a security officer (Part 1 of Article 318 of the Criminal Code), about mass riots (Part 1 of Article 212 of the Criminal Code with the use of Part 3 of Art. 33 of the Criminal Code) and to extremist activities (Article 280 of the Criminal Code).

organizing appeals Two more defendants in the case—activist of the “USSR Citizens” movement Ramis Chirkinov and bank clerk Arsen Besolov—were sentenced to eight years and eight and a half years in a maximum security colony, respectively. They were found guilty of the article on organizing mass riots (Part 1 of Article 212 of the Criminal Code).

58-year-old Chirkinov, according to the prosecution, was a subscriber to the “Vadim Cheldiev” chat on Telegram, where he allegedly called for participation in the April gathering. The third person involved in the case, Besolov, according to the investigation, “acted as part of a criminal group with Cheldiyev and Chirkinov” and published calls to go to protests.

More than 50 people became defendants in the case of the national gathering.

• At a gathering in Vladikavkaz on April 20, 2020, about two thousand people demanded the resignation of the leadership of North Ossetia, and also announced the loss of jobs and income due to the self-isolation regime. The protesters were brutally dispersed by riot police and security forces, 69 people. detained