Court refuses to return mandates to emigrant deputies from Novosibirsk – Kommersant

The Central District Court of Novosibirsk dismissed the claim of former City Council deputies Helga Pirogova and Sergei Boyko (included by the Ministry of Justice in the register of foreign agents) to cancel the decision of the city parliament to terminate their powers for violating anti-corruption laws. Both politicians have been abroad for a long time.

Recall that the ex-deputies also disputed the submission of the Novosibirsk prosecutor’s office, which stated that they did not provide information on income for 2022. On the basis of this document, on June 28, the City Council decided to terminate their powers due to the loss of confidence.

“No check (compliance with anti-corruption laws. – “Kommersant”) was carried out,” Olga Nechaeva, a representative of the plaintiffs, said during the court session, explaining that the Novosibirsk prosecutor’s office did not contact the deputies and did not receive explanations from them. In addition, according to the defense, the governor, and not the prosecutor’s office, which in this case exceeded its powers, has the right to make such submissions to the City Council.

Sergei Boyko was not given the opportunity to state his position at a meeting of the profile commission of the City Council via video link, and at the session on June 28, his assistant was not allowed to read the written explanations of the deputy, the defender insisted. “The rights of the persons being inspected were grossly violated,” Ms. Nechaeva summed up.

In turn, representatives of the prosecutor’s office and the City Council stated in court that both the supervisory agency and the municipal parliament acted within the law. “We believe that the contested decisions of the council of deputies were adopted by the council in accordance with the current legislation, in accordance with the regulations of the council of deputies, on the basis of all the necessary documents that were submitted,” said Zhanna Zvyagina, head of the department for consideration of appeals and judicial work of the City Council. Judge Elena Aleksandrova agreed with the defendants.

As Kommersant reported, Mr. Boyko left Russia in the fall of 2021, saying that he feared arrest in a criminal case on the creation of an extremist community. And at the end of March 2023, a record appeared on the website of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation recognizing him as a foreign agent. Ms. Pirogova went abroad in July 2022, after a criminal case was opened against her for spreading fakes about the Russian armed forces.

Read more about the lawsuit of ex-deputies in the material “Emigrants fight for mandates“.

Valery Lavsky, Novosibirsk