The investigator dropped the criminal case for insulting the authorities, brought against lawyer from Belgorod Evgeny Rozhkov because of an appeal to the head of the region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, through the Internet reception. Rozhkov himself told OVD-Info about this.
The case was dropped back in June. The reason for this was the reconciliation of the parties.
Rozhkov became aware of the initiation of the case in January 2022. Then they came to his apartment with a search, during which security forces used force on the man and his 86-year-old mother. The lawyer was given a written undertaking not to leave the place.
Rozhkov was charged with insulting a government official (Article 319 of the Criminal Code) and threatening to use violence against him (Part 1 of Article 318 of the Criminal Code). According to investigators, the man’s appeal contained a “threat of committing acts associated with violence, danger, causing harm - causing bodily harm” to the governor. The text of the appeal , according to the prosecution, also contained “humiliation and obvious humiliation” of the official. The indignation of the author of the appeal was associated with restrictions on visiting public places without a QR code about vaccination against COVID-19.
In addition, the Investigative Committee did not initiate a criminal case against the security forces who beat the man and his mother.