The prosecutor asked for nine years in prison for the founder of Sobaka.ru magazine Veronika Belotserkovskaya in the case of “fake news” about the army

During the debate in the Basmanny District Court of Moscow, the state prosecution asked for nine years in prison for the founder of the St. Petersburg magazine “Dog. ru » Veronica Belotserkovskaya in the case of military “fakes”. This was reported by a Mediazona correspondent from the courtroom.

Prosecutor Gulchekhra Ibragimova also asked to deprive Belotserkovskaya of the right to write on the Internet for five years.

The appointed lawyer, Elvira Kashigina, complained during the debate that Belotserkovskaya’s fate was being decided without her. She recalled that the investigation could not clearly establish whether Belotserkovskaya herself wrote posts on Instagram or not.

“Veronica Borisovna is an ordinary woman - not a politician, not a journalist. And she’s very kind, she writes cookbooks,” she added.

“My client lives abroad under complete misinformation, under pressure from foreign media... She wrote the publications in a state of severe shock, and not intentionally,” lawyer Kashigina summed up her speech. She called Belotserkovskaya a “random criminal” and asked to give her a “minimum sentence.”

Judge Elena Lenskaya will announce the verdict on February 6 at 11:00.

The blogger is accused of spreading “fake news” about the Russian army based on political hatred (clause “d” of Part 2 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). The reason for the case was Belotserkovskaya’s anti-war posts on Instagram. On May 13, the Ministry of Internal Affairs put her on the wanted list.

Founder of Dogs. ru " was born in Odessa and from the first day condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Now she lives in France; after the initiation of a criminal case, Belotserkovskaya handed over her publication to the magazine’s employees. In July 2022, she was added to the register of “foreign agents.”

On February 1, the same court sentenced journalist Alexander Nevzorov in absentia to eight years in a general regime colony. This is a year less than the state prosecution requested . He was found guilty of spreading “fake news” about Bucha and Mariupol (clause “e” of Part 2 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code).