For the video bloggers Katelevsky and Dorogov, 10 and 12 years in prison were offered

The prosecutor’s office requested 10 and 12 years of strict regime prison for the video bloggers and participants of the “Rosderzhava” journalistic project, Yan Katelevskyi and Alexander Dorogov, respectively, and the third defendant, Dmitry Filimonov, the prosecution is asking for 8 years in prison, reports the human rights project “OVD-Info”.

Katelevskii and Dorogov investigated corruption – in particular, among the police and in the field of ritual services. They were arrested three years ago, since then they have been in pretrial detention. Video bloggers are accused of large-scale extortion and insulting an official.

The criminal case itself was initiated on the basis of an application from the DPS employee Pavel Gorokhov. He claims that Katelevskii and Dorogov allegedly extorted 1.3 million rubles from him for refusing to publish revealing materials, and also insulted him.

Journalists consider the persecution ordered and fabricated. It is noted that during the trial, the DPS employee Gorokhov admitted that the video recording of operational and investigative activities, which does not confirm the guilt of the defendants, is genuine, although at the stage of the investigation he called it a fake. The key witness in the case, Gorokhov’s wife, completely refused her testimony.

The third defendant, Dmytro Filimonov, who testified against himself and Katelevsky and Dorogov, stated at the court that he spoke to the journalists because of pressure during the investigation. He called his testimony a condition set for his release from custody.