A case of “discrediting” was initiated against the head of Vologda “Yablok”

A criminal case has been initiated against the chairman of the Vologda branch of the “Yabloko” party, Mykola Yegorov, on charges of repeated discrediting of the army. He was searched. This is reported by “OVD-Info”. Similar information is published in the telegram channel of the party.

The searches took place in Egorov’s apartment in Veliky Ustyug. Earlier, two administrative protocols on the so-called discreditation were drawn up on Yegorov.

Special forces, police officers, as well as employees of the Center for Combating Extremism and investigators from Vologda participated in the search. Yegorov was handcuffed and taken away for questioning, reports Sever.Realii.

On Yegorov’s VKontakte page, most of the posts are devoted to the war in Ukraine and criticism of the authorities.

As noted in the Yabloka publication, Nikolay Egorov is the third regional leader of the party, who is being persecuted for his anti-war stance. Criminal cases under the article on repeated discrediting were initiated against the chairman of the Yakut branch of the party, Anatoly Nogovitsyn, and the chairman of the Kamchatka branch, Vladimir Efimov. In March of this year, the courts fined them 200,000 rubles each.

• In March 2022 – immediately after the beginning of Russia’s large-scale military invasion of Ukraine – the Code of Administrative Offenses and the Criminal Code included articles on liability “for public actions aimed at discrediting the use of the Armed Forces in order to protect the interests of the Russian Federation.” According to the administrative article, a fine of 30,000 to 50,000 rubles is threatened, with repeated “discrediting” it increases to 100,000 rubles. If more reports are drawn up on this article, investigators can open a criminal case – the article provides for up to five years of imprisonment.