The prosecutor demands a tougher sentence for Lilia Chanysheva up to 10 years

The case of the former head of Navalny’s Ufa headquarters, Lilia Chanysheva, has been sent by the Sixth Court of Cassation for a new appellate review at the request of the prosecutor’s office. Earlier, representatives of the state prosecution considered the sentence of the court, which sentenced Chanysheva to 7.5 years of imprisonment in the case of creating an extremist community, too lenient, and demanded that her sentence be increased to 10 years in prison.

The cassation instance refused to extend the term, but referred the case to the Supreme Court of the Republic. Also, the case of the activist Rustem Mulyukov, sentenced in the framework of the Chanysheva case to 2.5 years of imprisonment on the charge of “public appeals for the implementation of extremist activities”, was sent for a new review. Earlier, Mulyukov, a disabled person of the first group, who requires constant hemodialysis, asked to be released due to his health. As “OVD-Info” reminds, the head of the Perm IK-29 supported the activist’s demand, but the court refused to satisfy the demand.

“I think that the case was returned not because of violations, but, according to the prosecutor, because of the allegedly excessive “softness” of the punishment,” Chanysheva’s lawyer Sergey Makarenko commented on the decision of the cassation court. He clarified that the court did not give reasons for its decision, only the introductory and final parts were announced. In his opinion, Chanyshev will spend the next two months in the pre-trial detention center of the Perm region, and the result of the review of the case in the Supreme Court of Bashkortostan will be an increase in the sentence – as the prosecutor’s office is seeking.

• Lilia Chanysheva was arrested in November 2021 in a “joint criminal case” against the Russian politician Alexei Navalny and his closest associates. Earlier, the authorities recognized Navalny’s headquarters as an extremist organization. Chanysheva was one of the first to be arrested in Russia in connection with their activities. She does not admit guilt. The Human Rights Center “Memorial” recognized the activist as a political prisoner.
• At the end of January 2022, Rosfinmonitoring added Chanysheva – along with Alexei Navalny and his other associates – to the list of persons involved in extremist or terrorist activities.
• On June 14, 2023, a court in Ufa sentenced the former head of the Ufa headquarters to 7.5 years in prison and a fine of 400,000 rubles, with a seven-year ban on administering websites. Since December, Chanysheva has been in IK-28 in Bereznyky, Perm Region.