Dual-use arrest – Newspaper Kommersant No. 139 (7340) of 08/03/2022

The Koptevsky District Court of Moscow has registered a lawsuit from the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) to extend the term of probation for the metropolitan opposition leader, ex-deputy of the Timiryazevsky District Yulia Galyamina. In December 2020, she was sentenced to two years of suspended imprisonment under the so-called Dadin article on repeated violation of the rules for holding rallies, and on December 23, 2022, administrative supervision was to be removed from Ms. Galyamina. However, the Federal Penitentiary Service decided that her two-time failure to appear at the penitentiary inspection in March 2022, when the politician was serving a 30-day arrest for calling for protests against the special operation in Ukraine, should be punished by an extension of the appointed term for the same month.

The case file on the website of the Koptevsky court notes that the lawsuit of the Federal Penitentiary Service was registered on July 5, and at the end of the month it was forwarded to the office. According to Yulia Galyamina, the trial will take place on September 5, but this has not yet been noted on the website. The card states that the supervisory authority is petitioning “for an extension of the term of probation”, referring to Part 2 of Art. 74 of the Criminal Code and paragraph 7 of Art. 397 Code of Criminal Procedure. These norms make it possible to extend the probation period for no more than a year for a conditionally convicted person if he evaded the duties imposed on him by the court or was brought to administrative responsibility. The reason for the application of this sanction, according to Ms. Galyamina, was her arrest for 30 days, appointed by the Savelovsky Court of Moscow on March 5 under Part 8 of Art. 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (repeated violation of the established procedure for organizing or holding a meeting, rally, demonstration, procession or picketing). Then the politician was accused of calling on the Telegram channel to go to the center of Moscow and express disagreement with the special operation of the Russian armed forces in Ukraine. Because of the arrest, she was twice unable to appear at the inspection. “I would not mind if the police took me from the special detention center to check in with the jailers – at least it would be aired,” Ms. Galyamina noted. “But, as you know, these two departments are not very friendly. So the month will be added to me in January.”

In addition to extending the term, the Federal Penitentiary Service, according to the ex-deputy, will apply for a course of psycho-correction for her.

Recall, On December 23, 2020, the Tverskoy Court of Moscow sentenced Yuliya Galyamina to two years of suspended liberty with a two-year probationary period for repeated violation of the rules for holding a rally (Article 212.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The investigation accused her of publishing on social networks calls for an unsanctioned rally in the center of Moscow on July 15, 2020. In 2019, she was fined twice for participating in protest actions, and a criminal case under the “Dadi” article can be initiated if a person has been brought to administrative responsibility under Art. 20.2.

Before the expiration of the probation, the court also banned the oppositionist from teaching and being elected to elective office. Due to the latest ban, Ms. Galyamina, who was prematurely deprived of her deputy mandate in March last year, was unable to participate in the elections to the State Duma-2021 and in the municipal elections in Moscow, which will be held in September 2022. Ms. Galyamina has repeatedly stated that she does not agree with the charges brought against her, considers them politically motivated and aimed at removing her from the elections. At the same time, she continued to engage in political activities and, in particular, the preparation of opposition candidates for municipal deputies.

On July 19, the Federal Penitentiary Service gave Yulia Galyamina a warning about the possible replacement of the suspended sentence with a real one and the tightening of the restrictions on the current punishment. The inspectorate cited the March administrative arrest as a pretext, but the activist herself did not expect too severe a punishment. She has previously stated that she intends to nominate herself for the presidential elections in Russia, which are scheduled for 2024.

Dmitry Piskunov, a lawyer for the OVD-info human rights project (included by the Ministry of Justice in the register of foreign agents), notes that, from a formal point of view, the Federal Penitentiary Service has the right to go to court with such a petition: replacement of conditional condemnation with a real one. So it could have been worse.”

However, “if the fact of a violation is created artificially and there is no fault of a person, for example, he was in treatment, was in custody, in court,” then the application of such sanctions is “unacceptable and illegal,” says Vadim Klyuvgant, partner at the Pen & Paper Bar Association.

“The meaning of such sanctions, embedded in them by law, is a reaction to the dishonest, unlawful behavior of a conditionally convicted person. Therefore, their use is illegal when a person, for reasons beyond his control, could not even warn about the impossibility of his next appearance for a mark in the penitentiary inspection. The court, when considering a petition for an extension of the probationary period, is obliged to check its validity and must refuse to satisfy an unfounded petition, ”concludes the lawyer.

Kira Heifetz