Ex-lawyer Benyash was again sentenced to a fine in the case of attacking police officers in 2018

The Leninsky District Court of Krasnodar sentenced ex-lawyer Mikhail Benyash to a fine of 30 thousand rubles in the case of using harmless violence against police officers (Part 1 of Article 318 of the Criminal Code). He wrote about this in his Telegram channel.

“We canceled this, we’ll cancel this too,” the lawyer commented on the court’s decision. Previously, the prosecutor asked to sentence him to a fine of 40 thousand rubles.

The court re-examined the criminal case against Benyash. In October 2019, the lawyer was already fined 30 thousand rubles, but after a year and a half, the verdict was overturned and the case was sent for a new trial.

The persecution of Benyash began after the events of September 2018: the lawyer was stopped while he was on his way to join those detained at a protest against pension reform. The security forces stated that a report was drawn up against him under the protest article (Part 2 of Article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offences) because of his post about protests.

According to Benyash, the operatives then beat him in a police car. Security forces and investigators claim that the lawyer bit one of the police officers on the hand and hit the second in the face three times with his elbow.

He spent a month in a pre-trial detention center, then was released on bail of 600 thousand rubles. In February 2022, after the criminal case was sent for a new trial, Benyash was canceled as a preventive measure - a written undertaking not to leave the place.

During the period of criminal prosecution, pressure continued to be put on the lawyer: for example, in October 2022, he was recognized as a “foreign agent.” In February of this year, the council of the Krasnodar Region Bar Association, following a recommendation from the Ministry of Justice, stripped Benyash of his lawyer status. The reason was his publications, which, according to officials, “discredit the civil service, as well as employees of executive authorities.”

In addition, they tried to bring the lawyer to administrative responsibility for speaking out about the war in Ukraine in an interview on the YouTube channel “Protocol”. The court subsequently dismissed the case. In addition, in March 2022, Benyash’s home was searched in connection with a case of telephone terrorism (Article 207 of the Criminal Code). The court later overturned the search order.