The case of Alexey and Masha Moskalev: a chronicle

May 5, 2023

Alexey Moskalev is being transported to the Tula region. Most likely, he will be placed in pre-trial detention center No. 1 of Tula.

Two days ago, lawyer from OVD-Info Vladimir Bilienko met with his client in Smolensk for the first time since the end of March. Before this, Alexey’s whereabouts were unknown for more than a month.

May 3, 2023

Alexey Moskalev was found in pre-trial detention center No. 1 in Smolensk. His whereabouts have been unknown since late March.

OVD-Info lawyer Vladimir Bilienko meets with Alexey in the pre-trial detention center. He tells how he was detained in Belarus at the end of March. He clarifies that he had not called anyone on the phone before. He didn't even have a mobile phone with him.

Alexey was detained on March 30 in the city of Smolevichi by eight employees of local special services. During the arrest, he was severely beaten with punches and kicks on the chest and back, a muscle in his right leg was knocked out, and they also struck him several times on the head, including slamming his head against the wall. After that, according to Alexei, they put handcuffs on him, squeezing his hands tightly with them. They kept him like that for about half an hour. Due to the use of handcuffs, Alexey still cannot feel the thumbs on both hands.

Then Alexey was taken to the temporary detention center. There, employees filmed the beatings. However, Alexey signed a document stating that he has no claims against the security forces who beat him. He was afraid that they might take it out on him. Alexey spent about three days in the temporary detention facility. He notes that the living conditions there were poor: there were 12 people in the cell; after getting up, the mattress had to be rolled up and it was forbidden to be in the sleeping places - not even to sit on them.

After this, Alexey was transferred to the Zhodino pre-trial detention center. He stayed there for about a week. The man was then extradited to Russia.

He was taken out of Belarus by people in civilian clothes in a car without departmental markings. On Russian territory, he was first taken to the temporary detention center in Smolensk, where he stayed for two days. Then he was placed in a pre-trial detention center. There he spent 17 days in quarantine. At some point, a man was placed next to him, who caused a pogrom in the cell. broke the glass and used force on Alexey: he strangled him and hit his head against the wall. Alexey is sure that this man was placed with him on purpose. Among other things, he also talked about the need to enroll in the Wagner PMC and “go and kill crests.”

Alexey sent a letter through his lawyer to everyone who followed the story of his family. “To the support group, activists, all caring people who are worried about the situation that is happening to me and my most beloved and beautiful daughter. Thank you all so much! Russia stands only on people like you! Low bow to you!” - the letter says.

May 2, 2023

In Efremov, local authorities refuse to agree on a schedule for the reception of residents by local deputy Olga Podolskaya. The official reason was an incorrectly completed application. Podolskaya claims that she had previously received approvals for the same application.

Olga Podolskaya was a member of the Moskalev family support group. She broadcast from court hearings in Alexei’s case and went to a rehabilitation center to get a meeting with his daughter Masha.

April 24, 2023

OVD-Info lawyers filed a complaint with the UN Working Group. The document states that Moskalev's detention is arbitrary and violates a number of human rights, namely: the lack of a legal basis for the detention, a violation of his rights to freedom of expression and a fair trial, as well as discrimination based on political views.

The complaint further alleges that Moskalev's subsequent detention in Belarus and extradition to Russia were also arbitrary and violated international law and the two countries' obligations, including prohibitions on extraordinary transfer and secret detention.

Such a complaint will not only help Alexei - if the Working Group finds his detention illegal, others prosecuted under Article 280.3 will be able to use this position in their trials. Moreover, such complaints help to attract the attention of the international community to repressions in Russia - now 65 more people, besides Moskalev, are being prosecuted under Article 280.3, and in total there are already 540 defendants in the anti-war case.

April 21, 2023

The court dismissed the case of restriction of Masha Moskaleva's parents. According to lawyer Vladimir Bilienko, who collaborates with OVD-Info, Alexey Moskalev’s preservation of parental rights is an important moral victory. The defense will have the opportunity to declare at Alexey’s trial that he has a minor daughter in his care. In addition, the defender thanked “all the caring people who worried about this family.”

April 19, 2023

The Commission on Minors' Affairs (KDN) of the city of Efremov in the Tula region withdraws the claim to restrict the rights of Masha Moskaleva's parents. The court will consider the petition to dismiss the claim on April 20.

“The main task of the guardianship authorities and the commission for minors’ affairs was to ensure the protection of Masha’s interests, first of all, her rights to receive an education. All this time we worked with Masha’s relatives, especially with her mother. As a result, mom is now with Masha. They have a good relationship. Masha started studying again. Thus, as of today, the reasons that were indicated in the claim for restriction of parents’ rights have been eliminated,” says the statement to the chairman of the KDN, Svetlana Davydova.

Previously, she claimed that the Moskalev family has been on “preventive registration of families in a socially dangerous situation” since May 2022. She explained this by the fact that Alexei was twice brought to administrative responsibility. In addition, he allegedly made no attempts to return his daughter to school. Masha’s mother did not communicate with her for more than seven years.

April 12, 2023

Alexey Moskalev was extradited from Belarus to Russia. OVD-Info was informed about this by a local human rights activist who tried to visit Alexey in prison No. 8 in Zhodino.

In a conversation with OVD-Info, a prison officer refused to give information about the man’s whereabouts. He explained this by saying that to obtain this information you need to personally appear at the institution and present your passport.

Alexey's lawyer from OVD-Info, Vladimir Bilienko, does not know about the extradition of his client. He was not informed about this. The defense lawyer left a statement in pre-trial detention center No. 1 in the Tula region and asked to notify him if Moskalev was placed there.

UPD 14:43 In addition, Alexey Moskalev's defense was able to familiarize himself with the text of the verdict.

The document notes that Alexey received an administrative punishment under Part 1 of Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (“discrediting the army”) in April 2022 for publications on Odnoklassniki; in July, “discrediting” posts appeared on his page again. This was the reason for initiating a case under Part 1 of Art. 280.3 of the Criminal Code on public actions aimed at discrediting the use of armed forces. It provides for punishment ranging from a fine of one hundred thousand rubles to five years in prison.

Moskalev agreed that his Odnoklassniki page does indeed appear in the criminal case, but refused to admit that he had anything to do with the posts. According to him, his page was hacked several times. In addition, in July 2022, he rented out an apartment to certain people who could use his computer.

As arguments for the prosecution, the verdict includes an avatar with a portrait of Boris Nemtsov, which Moskalev used on social networks, as well as two sheets of paper with the inscription “Glory to Ukraine” and a souvenir magnet with the same inscription seized during searches.

The document mentions that in the 1980s and early 2000s, Moskalev was prosecuted under various articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and the RSFSR - he received suspended sentences, but this did not affect the severity of the punishment. The text of the verdict states that Moskalev has not been convicted.

The court recognized the presence of a young child as a mitigating circumstance, and as an aggravating circumstance, “the commission of a crime in the conditions of military operations related to the conduct of a special military operation by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine.” That is, the need for a real and not a suspended sentence is justified not by previous convictions, which are considered expunged, but simply by the very fact of conducting a “special military operation.”

OVD-Info lawyer Vladimir Bilienko, who is defending Moskalev, has already filed an appeal.

April 6, 2023

In the Efremov interdistrict court of the Tula region, a meeting was to be held to limit Alexey Moskalev’s parental rights. The meeting was postponed to April 20. The court claims that they do not know where Moskalev is. The man disappeared after he was detained on March 30 in Minsk. The court sent a request to the Federal Penitentiary Service for the department to find Moskalev and ensure his participation in the process.

Earlier, OVD-Info lawyer Vladimir Bilienko handed over a note from Alexey Moskalev to human rights activists. The man wrote it before the sentencing and asked to give it to his daughter. Since Bilienko was not allowed to visit Masha at the rehabilitation center, he wanted to give her a note during the trial on April 6 about limiting parental rights, but the judge refused to grant the request to transfer his letter to his daughter.

“Masha, your dad is writing to you. please hold on, people are now thinking about how to help you. Listen to my lawyer Vladimir Vladimirovich. Now many people are working on our issue. If one of our relatives wants to take custody of you, agree, it’s better than being in a shelter. The lawyer will tell you. If they bring you to court, ask your dad, ask the judge strongly. Your dad,” Alexey writes to Masha (spelling and punctuation preserved) .