The Meshchansky District Court sentenced a former municipal deputy of the Krasnoselsky district of Moscow to 8 years and 6 months in a penal colony Ilya Yashin (included in the register of foreign agents) in the case of spreading fake news about the Russian army, RBC was told in court. In addition, the court banned Yashin from administering resources on the Internet for four years.
The court found Yashin guilty under paragraph “d” part 2 of Art. 207.3 of the Criminal Code (public distribution of fakes about the use of the RF Armed Forces based on political or other hatred).
Earlier, during the debate, the prosecutor requested nine years in a penal colony for Ilya Yashin. In addition, the representative of the prosecutor’s office proposed to ban the former Mundep from administering Internet resources for four years. The maximum possible punishment under this article is ten years in prison with a ban on holding certain positions for up to five years.
According to investigators, in April, during a live broadcast on YouTube, Yashin disseminated “deliberately false information about the commission by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation of the killings of civilians in the city of Bucha” (Kyiv region of Ukraine). At the same time, as the Investigative Committee emphasized, the politician knew that the photos and videos published by the Ukrainian authorities about this “are a provocation.” In the indictment published on Yashin’s social networks, pointed outthat the former Mundep “feels hostility to the political system in the Russian Federation, denies the obvious need to ensure the security of the Russian Federation from external threats and to suppress violations of the fundamental rights of citizens of the DPR and LPR.”
During the process, Ilya Yashin insisted that in the video he voiced both the official version of the Ukrainian side and the official position of the Russian Ministry of Defense, and in the video he used materials from several media at once – in particular, a BBC report and material from Komsomolskaya Pravda journalist Alexander Kotsa. The defense also submitted to the court its own opinion of linguistic expert Igor Zharkov, who indicated that Yashin expressed only his opinion and attitude, and did not make any statements.
The lawyers asked to send a request to the Constitutional Court on compliance with Art. 207.3 of the Criminal Code of the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech, but the court did not satisfy the petition. In his last speech, Ilya Yashin turned to President Vladimir Putin and called on him to stop the special military operation in Ukraine and “move to a diplomatic settlement of the conflict.”
Before the initiation of criminal proceedings against Yashin three times fined for 30 thousand rubles. under Art. 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (discrediting the Armed Forces). At the end of June, the former municipal deputy was detained in Moscow and accused of disobeying the demand of a police officer. He denied his guilt. As a result, the court appointed Yashin 15 days of arrest, and on the day when he was supposed to be released, a criminal case was opened against him under the article on “fakes” about the Russian army (clause “d” part 2 of article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). […]
zona.media, 12/05/2022, “Yashin is on trial for a stream about Bucha. Day four”: Yashin emphasizes that in the stream he used the phrases “it can be assumed”, “it looks like”, “let’s study the arguments of both sides.” This, according to Yashin, indicates that he was simply looking for the truth, and did not disseminate information under the guise of reliable. […]
The politician considers that the quoted phrases from the media are attributed to him as a falsification of evidence, because he himself was not in Bucha. The prosecution cited the conclusion of the expert Savosina, who herself works in the center under the Investigative Committee: “The prosecutor did not like that the expert examination of the defense was paid. Savosina also did not work for free, and the source of her income is the same as that of the prosecutor – they are colleagues, ”recalls Yashin.
Yashin wonders why the linguist was not asked about the motive of political hatred. The very word “hatred” in the examination is not mentioned even once. Instead, the IC employee searched Yandex for Yashin’s biography. The investigator proves the political hatred in Yashin’s words by the reports on Chechnya and United Russia found in his assistant Veronika Shulgina. “Neither Ramzan Kadyrov nor the United Russia party are state authorities,” the politician recalls. […]
Regarding the demands of the prosecutor, as part of the verdict, to seize the phone and turn it in favor of the state, Yashin quotes from the film “Pokrovsky Gates”: “Khobotov, this is small.” […]
The prosecutor objects to Yashin’s arguments about the work of an expert and an investigator in neighboring offices – he gives a certificate that the building of the expert center of the Investigative Committee is located at a different address. Yashin explains to the prosecutor that it was a figure of speech.
“I also note the obvious anti-Soviet … anti-Russian position,” the prosecutor’s objections are interrupted by loud laughter in the hall. — Inset K.ru
Radio Liberty, 09.12.2022, “Ilya Yashin sentenced to 8.5 years in prison for video about Bucha”: 8.5 years – the toughest sentence in history in the case of the so-called fakes about the army. […] The previous toughest sentence under the article on fakes, was issued to the municipal deputy for the Krasnoselsky district of Moscow, Alexei Gorinov. He was sentenced to seven years in prison for calling Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a war. The Russian authorities continue to call it a special military operation. Yashin was a deputy of the same municipal assembly. — Inset K.ru
According to RBC estimates, in addition to Gorinov, 13 more sentences are known under Art. 207.3 of the Criminal Code. So, for the spread of fakes, a resident of the Trans-Baikal Territory Peter Mylnikov received a fine in the amount of 1 million rubles, ex-employee of the Elista mayor’s office Altan Ochirov – three years in a general regime colony, and Eduard Shcherbakov in Tyumen was assigned six months in a colony-settlement.
In total, according to the Prosecutor General’s Office (form 4-EGS), from January to October, 171 crimes under Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code were registered, 166 were recognized as committed. Criminal liability for public dissemination of fakes about the use of the Russian Armed Forces was introduced in March 2022.