Chuvash activist accused in the Artpodgotovka case was asked to serve three years in prison

The prosecutor's office requested three years in prison for Chuvash activist Elena Blinova, accused in the Artpodgotovka case. She herself told OVD-Info about this.

Blinova is charged with participation in the activities of an extremist organization (Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code). In July 2022, her charges were expanded , adding two more episodes. Now the case includes 11 episodes, including participation in broadcasts with the leader of Artpodgotovka Vyacheslav Maltsev, reposts of the movement’s publications, congratulations to Maltsev on his birthday, and others.

In August 2022, the activist told OVD-Info that the investigation into her case had been completed. As a sign of disagreement, the woman went on a hunger strike and refused to sign documents about familiarization with the case materials. She stated that the security forces violated her right to defense, and added that investigator Nikolaev was simply in a hurry to go on vacation.

According to Blinova, her ex-husband Pavel Romanov gave testimony in the case, and other prosecution witnesses said during interrogations that they did not remember the events he described.

The activist was detained at the end of December 2021 after a search of her home. She was given a recognizance not to leave the place. In 2019 and 2021, Blinova was fined for publishing materials with the symbols of “Artpodgotovka” (Part 1 of Article 20.3 of the Administrative Code).

• Elena (Alena) Blinova (Romanova after marriage) is a participant in the “Walks of Free People” and other protest actions. After the “He’s not your Dimon” rally on March 26, 2017, the woman was fired from the kindergarten allegedly for “repeated failure to fulfill her job duties.”
• In November 2017, Blinova was fined 200 thousand rubles due to a picket, in which, according to the activist, she did not participate.
• In 2017, the Krasnoyarsk Regional Court declared the Artpodgotovka movement, led by Vyacheslav Maltsev, extremist . He promised his supporters that a revolution would take place in the country on November 5, 2017. On this day, some of them took to the streets, and subsequently the security forces opened criminal cases against at least 20 people. One of the most famous is the case of the “arson of the Kremlin,” in which the defendants stated that they were victims of provocation. Maltsev himself left Russia.