Vadim Khairullin, convicted under the “Dada” article, was released from a colony in Kaliningrad

Convicted under the “Dada” article, Vadim Khairullin was released from colony No. 8 in Kaliningrad, having fully served his prison term. His lawyer Maria Bontzler told OVD-Info about this.

In August 2022, Khairullin was sentenced to a year in a general regime colony and taken into custody in the courtroom. At the same time, the prosecution during the debate asked to sentence the activist to two years probation.

The man was found guilty of repeated violation of the rules of participation in public events (Article 212.1 of the Criminal Code). A criminal case was opened after three decisions entered into force in 2021 under Article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offences. Thus, in February 2021, Khairullin was arrested for five days under the article on organizing an uncoordinated action (Part 2 of Article 20.2 of the Administrative Code) due to the January protests in support of Alexei Navalny. In March 2021, the activist was twice fined 20 thousand rubles - again because of a winter protest against the arrest of an oppositionist, as well as because of a picket in support of protests in Belarus. In both cases, the man was found guilty of violating the rules of holding a public event (Part 5 of Article 20.2 of the Administrative Code).

The fourth episode, which became the formal reason for initiating a criminal case, was Khairullin’s participation in the rally on April 21, 2021 in support of Navalny. Since August 2021, he has been under recognizance not to leave.

In January, the activist was transferred to IK-8 in Kaliningrad, and was later denied parole.

• Article 212.1 of the Criminal Code - “Dadinskaya” - punishes repeated violations of the rules for holding events. The first person convicted under this article was activist Ildar Dadin. In 2017, in connection with the criminal prosecution of Dadin, the Constitutional Court recommended that cases under this article be initiated only if the actions of the alleged violator constituted a threat to society. Despite these recommendations, Russian security forces continue to use Article 212.1 of the Criminal Code to put pressure on opposition activists, even if their actions did not create a threat to society.