Today, the Lefortovsky District Court of Moscow, at an off-site hearing in the Pokrovskaya correctional colony No. 2, began to consider a new case against Alexei Navalny. He is charged with fraud (part 4 of article 159 of the Criminal Code) and insulting judge Vera Akimova (part 1, part 2 of article 297 of the Criminal Code). There are six episodes in total. According to investigators, Navalny spent donations collected for the presidential campaign in 2018 for «personal purposes» and for the activities of his foundations. At the same time, Navalny did not have the right to run.
The victims in the case were a handyman from Moscow, a pensioner from the Leningrad region and two entrepreneurs: Vyacheslav Kuzin and Alexander Karnyukhin. The prosecution alleges that the handyman Koshelev deposited 1,020,000 rubles into the account of Navalny's fund after watching his videos. The victim in the case, pensioner Mikhail Kostenko, is the father-in-law of a colleague of a member of the Public Chamber, Ilya Remeslo, at whose request the Investigative Committee began checking Navalny's tweet about the veteran.
The next meeting in Pokrov will take place on February 21. The court took into account that Navalny had a meeting with his wife on February 16, so he decided to continue the consideration of the case in a week
Speech by Alexei Navalny
Thank you very much, Your Honor, for this opportunity to express my attitude to the prosecution, I have it. I will try to make it quite clear and specific. It will take some time. Dear prosecutor, how long did he speak? A little over an hour. I'll get there faster. I will speak as loudly as possible, please don't think that I'm yelling, I was just told by those who watch the broadcast to speak louder.
What emotions do you think I experienced when I read this accusation in the colony? Anger or denial or acceptance? What did I feel? <nrzb> Rejoicing!
You know, I portray a person who is happy. Sitting here in a chair, collapsed, and, like Leonardo DiCaprio in a meme, holding champagne. I was generally happy, I was in seventh heaven, and you will now understand why.
I have been in politics for many years, and I really collect money in the only, it seems to me, honest way — I collect donations from people. Those who want, transfer money to me, those who do not want, do not transfer. I have never taken a single penny from public money, and I am very proud of it. And I, and my colleagues, we are the same politicians who exist solely because they have support. The thing is, we've been doing this for a long time. And we have been raising money this way since 2011. Since that moment, about three hundred thousand people have transferred us an average of somewhere in the region of five hundred or six hundred rubles. Three hundred thousand people. 2011. During this time, well, obviously, some people became disillusioned with my activities. Well, I did not like what I said on some issue. That happens. Today we vote for one party, tomorrow we vote for another party. Today we like Navalny, tomorrow we like Putin. Or vice versa. It happens.
And so when I, while in Germany, [declared] that I was returning to Russia, and in response to me, the Investigative Committee said that, therefore, we would imprison you, because you stole all the donations and issued a press release that we will consider in the process that I stole and spent a billion rubles for my needs. Then they issued a press release saying that I had stolen 385 million rubles, and so on and so forth. I understand that, of course, the case was fabricated, and obviously we did not spend anything on any of our needs.
But 300 thousand people. And we knew that they were interrogating everyone, just all over, in the regions, people wrote: “We are being summoned for interrogation.” And we accepted all non-cash donations, so the lists of all donors are in the Investigative Committee. But I understood that quite a few people, simply because they were disappointed in me or in my colleagues, could take and write a statement. so what? After all of yours like this: “I stole a billion and spent it on myself, I stole three hundred million and spent it on myself”… What did you bring to court? You literally brought materials to the court that there are four people. Three hundred thousand donors over the years and four people have written an application for two million rubles. Of which one literally — it says so here — writes that he watched Navalny's video, after which he took a million rubles, one million twenty thousand rubles, so that it was especially large, and translated it to Navalny. And two weeks later, the locksmith thought — no, Navalny is not cool, he deceived me. He writes a statement, and the next day a criminal case is initiated.
And this means that if someone ever asks me what evidence you will present in favor of the fact that, as you say, that [you] and [your] colleagues have the most honest and transparent organization, I will say — my evidence These are criminal records. And we will see that each translation is analyzed. There are simply printouts of all card payments — mine, my wife, my daughter, most of the FBK employees (the organization is recognized as extremist and banned in the Russian Federation — ed.). There is nothing here. There are two victims <nrzb>
You here again uttered the phrase that you stole for personal needs. There is nothing, there is not a single word even in your completely fabricated case. There is not a single word that even a penny of this money came to me, that I or my colleagues transferred at least a penny for their needs. Therefore, of course, I experienced jubilation, experienced gratitude to those three hundred thousand people who were persuaded, intimidated, and not one of them wrote a statement.
You had to look for fake people to transfer money to us, because out of the normal three hundred thousand [people], no one wrote. Amazing. I feel elated.
I am elated that our system, which has a Chinese wall between donor money and personal money, has never been crossed. Not a single penny went to anyone or anywhere, except for our activities. There is something useful in this case. A global audit of everything that FBK did, which fully proved that we did absolutely everything right, we spent everything on the activities that we talked about — anti-corruption activities. And we did everything very well, we did everything right, and our movement is an amazing political force in which you can find three hundred thousand people who will not betray you, even under pressure and intimidation from investigators and everyone else.
As for the essence of the accusation, it is, of course, that people are forbidden to conduct political activities without your permission — the Kremlin and everyone else. Because what did I actually do? People hold different political views. It's great. Probably, if I ask you who you support, you will say that you support the national leader Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. But not me. And probably no one will argue with the fact that there are different politicians, there are people of different views, they vote, respectively, for different people, different parties.
And I think that I have every right to come out and make political demands that I don't like what's going on here, I hate what's going on here. The rate of a paramedic in this zone is 14 thousand rubles, you understand? With all the extras — 21 thousand rubles a month salary. Oil — $93 per barrel. Putin builds a palace for himself for 150 billion rubles, the paramedic receives 21 thousand. Here the inspector, a healthy man, gets 25. Therefore, operas go and locals open, because there is a turnover, because no one wants to work, because there is no salary. The entire Vladimir region is struggling here for 25,000 rubles. 27 thousand rubles. I don't like it.
I don't understand how there can be such poverty in a country that has been pumping oil and gas for 20 years. Therefore, I collect those who do not like it either. I unite them into a party, unite them into a movement, and I am investigating where this paramedic's money was stolen, where this inspector's money was stolen, where your money was stolen.
Yes, this is an investigation, and for the investigation we need money.
I thought, what is the most honest way, probably, if you just go around people, go out into the street and ask: “What money do you think a politician should exist on? On budget? He will say: “No, why budget?”. «And for what?» He will say: «Take from those people who like this politician.» And I decided to do it, and I do it, and I will continue to do it.
There is no other way of normal political activity, except when a person who declares something, that he is dissatisfied with something, unites others, collects money from them, continues this activity.
We have a courtroom here, a judicial investigation. Let's do a forensic experiment here. I'm telling you now — dear court, dear prosecutors, you can write it down. 16 hours 25 minutes, citizen Navalny, being at such and such an address in the colony, called here and here all the employees of the Anti-Corruption Fund to continue investigations, continue to publish facts of corruption, find where Putin, his relatives, his second wife, his third wife, where did they put the stolen money, investigate all these United Russia ministers, publish it, urge everyone else to spread it.
I call on all, as you write, an unlimited circle of people, citizens of Russia, to make donations to us in order to to finance this anti-corruption activity, to help us disseminate investigations. Because this is my political activity, and I am fighting for a change of power in the country, I do not want these people to sit in the Kremlin, they have been sitting there for decades.
Well, it cannot be that every minister in our country officially [was] a dollar millionaire. They are thieves, I believe that they are thieves, and I ask you to make donations to us so that we can investigate the activities of these thieves. I will be talking about a fundraising campaign at each new court session, let's call it a court donation campaign. You can file another criminal case against me right now. How is it there, having a criminal intent to embezzle funds called for fundraising. You can call it that, another thing, as I said, start, do anything. I see no other way to conduct normal, honest political activity other than like this.
If I think they are thieves, I talk about it, I prove that they are thieves, I show it to everyone, I will participate in the elections. Yes, now there is legislation that was prescribed for me, and you keep repeating that, therefore, I have no right to participate in elections. Not only do I have no right to participate in elections, but in your criminal case file it is written: Volkov made a false statement that he was the head of Navalny’s headquarters (“Navalny’s headquarters” were recognized as an extremist organization and banned in the Russian Federation — ed.< /strong>). Now even you know better than me who my chief of staff is, Volkov is “false” because.
You can write anything, but there is a simple thing — I want to participate in the elections. I want other candidates to participate in the elections, I want there to be a party to vote for, and I demand admission to the elections
— and other people, and yourself. You think that I should not be allowed, but I think that this is illegal and wrong. But I want to participate in the elections and I appeal to everyone — if you think that I and people like me can participate in the elections, let's unite and act together. Let's support us with money. If they don't let us in, participate in «Smart Voting» in order to kill the United Russia people who are behind you.
You see, «United Russia» sounded, and I'm already facing accusations no closer. Because my activity is the activity of organizing people who do not like United Russia and Putin, who hate United Russia and Putin, who want to remove United Russia and Putin from power, because United Russia and Putin This is a robbery of our country. This is an objective fact, an objective fact of poverty.
