“Fifteen” with confiscation – Newspaper Kommersant No. 30 (7475) of 02/17/2023
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Ukrainian justice began to issue sentencing in absentia to deputies of the Russian State Duma for appealing to the President of the Russian Federation on the recognition of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DNR and LNR) and ratification of the relevant treaties in February 2022. As Kommersant found out, seven parliamentarians have already received 15 years in prison with confiscation of property. Some of the deputies reacted to the verdict with irony, while others did not hear about it at all. But in the future, this may complicate their travel abroad, the expert warns.
The first “parliamentary” verdict on December 14, 2022 was issued by the Shevchenkovsky District Court of the city of Chernivtsi: during a closed session, a State Duma deputy from United Russia and a famous singer were convicted in absentia in special proceedings Denis maidanov. The court found him guilty of encroaching on the territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine, which entailed grave consequences (part 3 of article 110 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, up to life imprisonment), and sentenced him to 15 years in prison with confiscation of property.
According to the text of the verdict, on February 15, 2022, Mr. Maidanov supported the appeal of the State Duma to the President of the Russian Federation with a request to recognize the independence of the republics of Donbass, a week later he voted for the ratification of friendship and cooperation agreements with the DPR and LPR, and also participated in making other decisions to legitimize the “full-scale invasion troops of the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine. As evidence of the ensuing consequences, the court attached to the case reports from Ukrainian and Western media, as well as photo and video materials from the Internet about “committing war crimes.”
“Kommersant” found in the Unified State Register of Judicial Decisions of Ukraine six more verdicts of the Shevchenkovsky District Court against Russian parliamentarians-United Russia, issued from January 10 to February 6. Deputies sentenced in absentia to a similar punishment and on the same grounds Dmitry Islamov, Nikolai Bortsov, Nikolai Pankov, Valentina Artamonova And Mikhail Kuzmin. In addition, the deadline Valentina Pivnenkohowever, for some reason, the court appointed her one year of imprisonment less than everyone else.
According to the register, consideration of at least three more similar criminal cases against State Duma deputies, including its vice-speaker Alexei Gordeev, has begun in Chernivtsi.
At the same time, Ukrainian law enforcement officers “distribute” production to other western regions of the country. So, on January 23, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) announced that indictments were sent to the courts against another 55 State Duma deputies, including its speaker Vyacheslav Volodin. The investigation, according to the intelligence service, was carried out by SBU officers in the Ivano-Frankivsk and Khmelnytsky regions. Consideration of the first cases in these regions is scheduled for early March.
Valentina Pivnenko and Dmitry Islamov learned about the sentences from Kommersant. “What an award I received from the Nazis!” exclaimed Mrs. Pivnenko, not without pleasure. In her opinion, the verdict was passed “from evil and impotence, because we will soon win.” The deputy did not see any consequences for herself in this: “In any case, I am under sanctions, I live in Karelia, I spend all my holidays in the country. It doesn’t bother me at all.” Mr. Islamov explained to Kommersant that he does not want to delve into the verdict, and there is no time, since he has a lot of work in the field of energy development. “Let it remain on the conscience of those who make such decisions. The truth is behind us, and victory will be ours!” the parliamentarian summed up.
Nikolai Pankov reacted more aggressively to the decision of the Ukrainian court. “I don’t read fascist sites, but all sites that are about this (verdict.— “b”) they write – fascist, ”he told Kommersant. According to the deputy, the verdict indicates that the Duma “makes decisions that uphold the interests of Russia, the family, the rule of law and respect for other states.” “This sentence does not bind me in any way, I have not traveled and am not going to travel abroad, to countries that support such decisions,” Mr. Pankov added.
But Mikhail Kuzmin was excited by the news about a potential 15 years in prison. “It’s a trifle, but there are some experiences, because, you never know, let’s say, not on a tourist trip, but for treatment, you will need to leave – that’s it, the shop is closed, because the material, of course, will be in Interpol,” the deputy said on his page on VKontakte.
“In order to avoid intrigues, which are brilliantly invented abroad”, now his relatives will also have to refrain from traveling abroad, Mr. Kuzmin complained.
His fears are not unfounded, since each state independently decides whether to execute such sentences or not, says MGIMO associate professor Ilya Rachkov. “It can fulfill them both on the basis of an international agreement concluded with Ukraine, and ad hoc, that is, on a specific occasion, for some of its own considerations. In Russia, for example, there was a similar situation with businessman Sergei Polonsky: he was in Cambodia, but Russia simply agreed to extradite him in exchange for benefits in favor of Cambodia, ”says the expert. But the arrest through Interpol seems less likely to him, since the deputies are clearly persecuted for political reasons.
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