Liliya Chanysheva released

Earlier, during the second appeal hearing of Chanysheva’s case in April 2024, she was sentenced to nine and a half years in prison.

On August 1, 2024, Liliya Chanysheva, ex-coordinator of Navalny’s headquarters in Ufa, was found guilty under Part 3 of Art. 282.1 of the Criminal Code (creation of an extremist community using official position) and two more articles of the Criminal Code, she was pardoned and released as part of a prisoner exchange between Russia and Western countries. Another defendant in the same case, Ufa activist Rustem Mulyukov, continues to serve the sentence imposed on him under Part 2 of Art. 282.1 of the Criminal Code (participation in the activities of an extremist community).

Chanysheva was detained on November 9, 2021 and taken into custody. The criminal prosecution of Mulyukov became known in September of the same year. As a preventive measure, he was given a ban on certain actions, but on March 15, 2023, the Kirovsky District Court of Ufa sent him under house arrest; The reason was failure to appear at a court hearing. On March 23, the Supreme Court of Bashkortostan overturned the decision to impose house arrest.

On September 20, 2022, it became known that the investigation into the case of the oppositionists had been completed; the consideration of the merits began on March 1, 2023. On April 26, 2023, during the debate in the Kirovsky District Court of Ufa, the prosecution asked that Chanysheva be sentenced to 12 years in a general regime colony and a 700 thousand ruble fine, and Mulyukov - five years in a general regime colony with two years of restriction of freedom after release.

On June 14, 2023, the Kirovsky District Court of Ufa passed a verdict, and on November 7 of the same year, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Bashkortostan upheld the punishments imposed then: Chanysheva received seven and a half years in prison and a fine of 400 thousand rubles, Mulyukov - two and a half years colonies.

Chanysheva was convicted on three counts: in addition to Part 3 of Art. 282.1 of the Criminal Code, she was also found guilty under Part 1 of Art. 280 of the Criminal Code (public calls for extremist activities), imposing three years in prison, as well as under Part 3 of Art. 239 of the Criminal Code (participation in a non-profit organization whose activities involve inducing citizens to commit illegal actions), imposing a fine of 100 thousand rubles. The reason for persecuting Chanysheva under Art. 280 of the Criminal Code apparently stemmed from Mulyukov’s statements during a speech against corruption on June 12, 2017 in Ufa, for which he himself was sentenced to a suspended sentence in 2019. Alexey Navalny was also convicted on similar charges related to Mulyukov’s words. Chanysheva was the coordinator of Navalny’s local headquarters during the rally, but what relation she had to Mulyukov’s statements is unclear. However, from punishment under Part 1 of Art. 280 of the Criminal Code and Part 3 of Art. 239 of the Criminal Code, she was released due to the expiration of the statute of limitations for bringing her to justice.

Mulyukov was convicted under Part 2 of Art. 282.1 of the Criminal Code - also for involvement in the structures of Alexei Navalny. He was sentenced to two and a half years in a general regime colony. The activist was not present at the announcement of the verdict. Being a group I disabled person in need of hemodialysis, before the appeal he was prohibited from certain actions. The appellate instance did not change the punishment assigned to Mulyukov; he was taken into custody in the courtroom. On December 18, 2023, the Leninsky District Court of Ufa refused to release Mulyukov from punishment due to his health problems.

In addition to the main punishment, Chanysheva was banned for seven years from administering Internet resources, organizing and participating in public events, and she was also sentenced to two years of restriction of freedom after her release. Mulyukov was sentenced to a year of restriction of freedom, he was banned for two years from holding public events and participating in them.

The prosecutor's office, in appeal and then in cassation, demanded that the oppositionist's sentence be toughened, increasing the term of imprisonment to 10 years and the fine to 700 thousand rubles. Chanysheva’s defense, in turn, called the imposed punishment too severe and asked the cassation court to check the case in full; Mulyukov’s defense asked to be released from punishment for health reasons. On March 4, 2024, the Sixth Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction returned the case to the appeal stage.

On April 9, 2024, the Supreme Court of Bashkortostan reconsidered the prosecutor's appeal against the verdict. The court increased the sentence imposed on Chanysheva to nine and a half years in prison. The punishment assigned to Mulyukov was left unchanged.

Let us recall that the structures of Alexei Navalny and his supporters - the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), the Foundation for the Defense of Citizens' Rights (FZPG) and Navalny's headquarters - were banned in the summer of 2021 (in our opinion, wrongfully ). And from September 2021, the activities that Navalny’s structures carried out before this ban began to be considered by the Investigative Committee as the activities of an extremist community: then the main investigative department of the Investigative Committee opened a case under Art. 282.1 of the Criminal Code in relation to Navalny himself and a number of his supporters. Then this case was combined with others: on the creation of a non-profit organization, the activities of which involve inducing citizens to commit illegal actions (Part 2 of Article 239 of the Criminal Code), and on the financing of extremism (Part 1 of Article 282.3 of the Criminal Code).

Subsequently, the defendants in cases under Art. 282.1 and 239 of the Criminal Code were charged to two dozen regional activists who had previously participated in the activities of Navalny’s structures. Sentences under these articles were handed down to supporters of the politician not only in Ufa, but also in Arkhangelsk , Irkutsk and Barnaul , as well as Navalny himself and his associate Daniel Kholodny. While serving his sentence, Navalny died in a colony in February 2024 under unclear circumstances.

Let us note that an “extremist community” is a community created for the preparation or commission of crimes of an extremist nature. However, the goals that the investigation attributed to Navalny and his supporters, in our opinion, do not apply to such crimes. Therefore, the prosecution of the politician himself and his supporters under Art. We consider Article 282.1 of the Criminal Code to be unlawful (you can read more about our position on this case here ).

Sources

• 16 defendants in criminal cases were released from prison as part of an exchange with Western countries // OVD-Info. 2024. August 1.
• The Supreme Court of Bashkortostan increased the sentence of Liliya Chanysheva from 7.5 to 9.5 years, SOTAvision correspondent reports from the courtroom // SOTAVision. 2024. April 9.
• The Court of Cassation in Samara returned the criminal case against Liliya Chanysheva and Rustem Mulyukov to the Supreme Court of Bashkorotsan, our correspondent reports from the courtroom // SOTAVision. 2024. March 4.
• The prosecution demands a harsher sentence for the former head of Navalny's Ufa headquarters, Liliya Chanysheva, at the cassation hearing, our correspondent reports from the courtroom // SOTAVision. 2024. March 4.
• The court in Ufa refused to release sick activist Rustem Mulyukov from serving his sentence // Idel.Realities. 2023. December 18.
• On June 14, 2023, the Kirovsky District Court of Ufa issued a guilty verdict against Liliya Chanysheva and Rustem Mulyukov // United Press Service of the Courts of the Republic of Bashkortostan. 2023. November 7.
• Prosecutors asked to tighten the punishment for Liliya Chanysheva to 10 years in prison // OVD-News. 2023. July 6.
• Liliya Chanysheva filed a complaint against the verdict // Kommersant. 2023. June 26.
• The Kirovsky District Court of Ufa rendered a verdict in the criminal case of the former coordinator of the Ufa “Navalny Headquarters” // Kirovsky District Court of Ufa. 2023. June 14.
• The verdict of Liliya Chanysheva will be announced on June 14 // Kommersant. 2023. May 29.
• The prosecution requested 12 years in prison for Liliya Chanysheva // SOTA. Telegram. 2023. April 26.
• The prosecutor demanded 5 years in prison and the next 2 years of restriction of freedom for Rustem Mulyukov // SOTA. Telegram. 2023. April 26.
• The court in Ufa predetermined the outcome of the trial of the ex-chief of Navalny’s headquarters, Liliya Chanysheva: according to the judge’s statement, she will be convicted // SOTA. Telegram. 2023. March 15.
• The court in Ufa began to consider the merits of the case of Navalny’s comrade-in-arms Liliya Chanysheva and closed the hearing from listeners // Mediazona. 2023. March 1.
• The Supreme Court of Bashkortostan canceled the house arrest of activist Rustem Mulyukov // Idel.Realii. 2023. March 23.
• Based on materials from social networks.