The Khamovnichesky Court of Moscow sentenced the commercial director of “Beware, Media” Kirill Sukhanov to seven and a half years in prison in the case of extortion of 11 million rubles. at the head of Rostec Sergei Chemezov. Other persons involved in the case: administrator of the telegram channel “Tushite Lights” Arian Romanovsky (in the case appears under the name Kuzmin) and journalist Timur Bigaev — received seven years in prison, the press service of the capital’s courts reported. The terms announced by the court turned out to be only six months less than what the prosecution requested.
Sukhanov partially admitted his guilt, others did not admit it.
“There are no words. This is not just injustice. It’s much more than that. I fulfilled everything, all the agreements, so that there would be a mitigation. Why are you ruining people’s lives? For what? Seven and a half years? Why such a disproportion? Just to take revenge? — wrote Ksenia Sobchak V telegram channel after the verdict.
The case is related to the so-called “negative blocks” – obligations not to publish negative materials about those who paid for the block. According to investigators, the defendants in the case prepared an article for the “Lights Out” channel with information that could harm the interests of Rostec head Sergei Chemezov and his relatives. To prevent the article from being published, they extorted 11 million rubles from him, the prosecution insisted.
RBC news agency, 02.12.2024, “In court, the claims against the Telegram post were explained by the threat of an attempt on Chemezov’s life”: The publication of the route and location of the head of Rostec Sergei Chemezov in a post on the telegram channel “Turn out the Lights” created a “threat to the safety of life and health.” This is stated in the written position of the victim’s representative, which RBC has. […] “Thus, not only information from the private life of Mr. Chemezov S.V. became known to an unlimited circle of people, but also his route of movement and location as of October 22, 2022, which, in the context of the ongoing special military operation and occupied by Mr. Mr. Chemezov S.V. position of the head of a state corporation, which primarily oversees enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex, created a potential threat to the safety of life and health not only of Mr. Chemezov S.V., but also of other guests of the private event,” the document says.
According to the plaintiff’s position, the administrators of the telegram channel were asked to delete this post, but in response they demanded 1 million rubles. for deleting a message, 10 million rubles. as an “annual subscription” for a “negative block” (an obligation not to publish negative materials about those who paid for such a “service”) and the ability to approve any news that will be proposed for publication. As a result, the injured party paid 800 thousand rubles, after which it filed a complaint with the police about extortion, the document says.
“We asked the court to reduce the sentence. They asked to take into account mitigating circumstances, including the apologies made by the defendants, which were accepted by Sergei Viktorovich. S.V. Chemezov’s position was conveyed to the court during the debate,” a representative of the head of Rostec told RBC. Sukhanov partially admitted his guilt, Romanovsky and Bigaev did not. — Insert K.ru
Sobchak in November 2022 apologized to Chemezov for the actions of Romanovsky, Sukhanov and Bigaev. She indicated that “the guys sincerely regret what happened.” Sobchak also insisted that there was no political context in the accusations against her colleagues and denied her involvement in the “Lights Out” telegram channel.
Before publications with an apology, searches were carried out in Sobchak’s house, she was also going to be detained, reported by TASS. RBC sources reportedthat she was not a suspect in this case. On November 15, Sobchak visited the Rostec office, where negotiations with Chemezov were scheduled to “resolve the conflict.”
Romanovsky and Sukhanov were detained at the end of October, Bagev at the beginning of November. Romanovsky’s lawyer Dmitry Malutov spoke about the presence of documents confirming the performance of work by his client on “tasks” Sobchak. According to him, the material of the telegram channel “Tushite Lights”, because of which the case was opened, concerned the celebration of the billionaire’s birthday Andrey Bokarev, which Chemezov visited. It also said that they had been “friends since childhood.” Malutov clarified that this information was taken from previously published articles by Vedomosti, Kommersant, Forbes and GQ, so it is not exclusive.
Previously, the administrator of the telegram channel “Kremlin Mamkoved” Sergei Sadov received two and a half years in prison for extorting funds from a top manager of Rostec Vasily Brovko. Another person involved in this case was Alexander Spirin, administrator of the telegram channel “Somehow like this”, wrote the Cheka-OGPU. The court found that Sadov, under the threat of disseminating “false, defamatory and disgraceful information that could cause significant harm to the rights and legitimate interests of the victim and his relatives,” received money from Brovko.
@wisedruidd, 02.12.2024 14:46: In the case of sentencing in the case of extortion from the head of Rostec, Sergei Chemezov, it is important not to lose two important accents. Firstly, Ksenia Sobchak and the lawyers themselves are to blame for the serious sentence, as they clearly made unnecessary noise despite the obvious guilt of her subordinates, and interfered with the investigation and trial. Secondly, it’s still surprising why K. Sobchak got away with it. […]
But K. Sobchak needed to put on a show around the trial, to tease the Russian court, because black PR is also PR. Like participating in a naked party. As a result, instead of reduced sentences, a maximum sentence of 7 years was given (for K. Sukhanov, 7.5 years). Even the position of Rostec and S. Chemezov personally on mitigating the sentence did not help. After all, earlier the head of the state corporation asked the court to take into account mitigating circumstances, including the apologies made by the defendants, which he accepted. No matter what K. Sobchak says now, she simply abandoned her team, three young and promising guys, without even being a witness in the case. Previously, Ksenia Anatolyevna stated that her last name allows her to avoid the consequences that befall others. In the list of untouchables, she is apparently valued even higher than some of the top Russian figures. — Insert K.ru
@ananyevilya, 12.02.2024 14:13: The finale of the Rostec case against Sobchak gives rise to a new trend in the relationship between the professional media audience, big business and government. A strict standard is emerging for relations with social networks and the journalistic environment, and it will definitely be sent as a “directive” to all regions for “arming” of the security forces. Both government and business will use it with a free hand.
The times when contracts for information support of a “client” began with “highlighting” his problems are becoming a “dangerous game” for journalists. Time will only tighten the screws more and more. Media professionals, of course, need to be careful with the “technologies” for attracting a client base, and especially with its selectivity. Sometimes it is better to “miss opportunities” than to seize them. — Insert K.ru
I fully support Ksenia Sobchak, who is trumpeting the unfair verdict against journalists Arian Romanovsky and Tamerlan Bigaev and her ex-commercial director Kirill Sukhanov. 7 years of strict regime. Instead, she should be the one sitting in the dock. “I don’t need to decide my fate – I wouldn’t have returned if I wasn’t sure that the investigation couldn’t have serious questions for me – this is a pretty obvious fact” – this is a quote from Sobchak from our correspondence with her on January 19, 2023. Having received guarantees of her immunity, she was annoyed, counting her reputational losses after the testimony of Arian and Tamerlan was leaked to the press – Sobchak was the owner of the “Tushite Lights” channel, the source of information about the victim’s birthday and the beneficiary of negative blocks. Ksenia Sobchak, in the best traditions of crime bosses, put pressure on the guys close to her to persuade them to take all the blame on themselves (thereby perjury), convincing them that she had an agreement and they would be quickly released. It is curious under what laws this would happen: in exchange for a confession for the most serious crime, receive retraining for a less serious crime. Naturally, Ksenia’s main condition was to completely exclude her first and last name from her testimony.
For almost a year and a half, Ksenia Sobchak did not support the families of Arian and Tamerlan in any way. Sobchak refused to pay for the lawyers that the guys chose, and slipped those working for her, supposedly independent, but in fact completely interested in protecting her reputation. Of course, this was not a magnanimous gesture of help, but real blackmail with the expectation that loved ones would have no choice but to fall on their faces before her and agree to her terms. Even crime bosses, when their people go to jail, take responsibility for their families. But Sobchak, apparently, has not yet grown up to become a criminal authority, she is just a scammer. Not long ago, Ksenia Sobchak, apparently in order to have something to write after this verdict, paid a monthly salary to Tamerlan Bigaev – 200 thousand rubles instead of the salary due to him at least three million rubles during his detention in the pre-trial detention center, not counting the costs of lawyers. Aryan’s relatives did not even wait for this handout. Not to mention the fact that Ksenia did not consider it necessary to simply answer calls from the children’s parents.
The widely promoted efforts throughout Moscow to save them actually resulted in guarantees of their own safety and completely shielding themselves from the matter. And even when the trial was conducted behind closed doors, through her lawyers she again demanded to give false testimony and not to mention her during interrogations in court.
This is a small part of everything that happened over these year and a half. Today, Ksenia Sobchak should cease to exist for everyone as a social character and as a brand. Today, through her fault, the lives of two of my close friends have been ruined. Any advertiser who posts information about their products on Sobchak’s resources must understand that this is anti-advertising.
