Leonid Gozman arrested for 15 days

The Tverskoy Court of Moscow has appointed 15 days of administrative arrest to politician Leonid Gozman (recognized as a foreign agent by the media). The court recognized that the politician, in his post on LiveJournal in 2013, identified the USSR with Nazi Germany (part 1 of article 13.48 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation). Mr Gozman was detained the day before, at the exit from the detention center, where he spent 15 days of arrest under the same article.

“I am not guilty of anything either before the people or before the country. The case is obviously custom-made, since it was initiated on the eve of the end of my previous term, ”Leonid Gozman said during the hearing (quoted by TASS). He fears that his administrative cases may become the basis for criminal prosecution.

The politician noted that the text in question was published on the Ekho Moskvy website (reprinted from LiveJournal). The politician’s lawyer Mikhail Biryukov said that the investigation did not conduct a linguistic examination, which was necessary in such a case.

During the meeting, the defendant’s lawyer urged the court to take into account the medical reports, according to which the 72-year-old politician cannot be under arrest. Gozman himself stated in court that his condition had deteriorated greatly after 15 days in a special detention center. According to him, in the near future he may need hospitalization.

The reason for the first administrative arrest was the politician’s post on Facebook (owned by Meta, recognized as extremist and banned in the Russian Federation), in which he compared Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler. He was arrested on 30 August. After the court appointed him the first 15 days of arrest. In an interview “Novaya Gazeta”which was published on September 9, Mr. Gozman said that he was ready to leave Russia.

Read more about the case of Leonid Gozman – in the material “Kommersant” “A post was raised for Hitler.”

Lusine Balasyan