Singer Alla Pugacheva and Naina Yeltsina, wife of the first Russian President Boris Yeltsin, sent positive references to Yevgeny Roizman to the Oktyabrsky District Court of Yekaterinburg, where the third hearing in the case of «discrediting» the army against the former mayor of the city is taking place, Kommersant reports.
Characteristics of Roizman were also written by former editor-in-chief of Ekho Moskvy Alexei Venediktov, member of the Human Rights Council Eva Merkacheva, directors Nikolai Kolyada and Alexei Fedorchenko. The editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta, Dmitry Muratov, and the ex-host of Ekho Moskvy, Irina Vorobyeva, came to Yekaterinburg to support Roizman.
Judge Nikolai Taranenko refused to attach Pugacheva's characterization to the case, calling it «non-procedural». The full text of the artist's appeal was published in his telegram channel by Alexei Venediktov, who also came to the meeting with Roizman.
“You have to make a difficult decision not to be afraid to justify Evgeny Vadimovich Roizman * and leave him free. Today clearly shows what kind of people need to be supported in order not to turn into a gray dumb human mass, losing patriotic guidelines. The future of our Motherland lies with such people as Roizman E.V., who live by the interests of citizens not only of their region, but also by the interests of citizens of the whole country. Yes! Protects, as he can, as his soul commands, a true patriot. Yes! Roizman E.V. is straightforward in his judgments. Maybe he should have smoothed out his rhetoric, but this is unlikely to be decided by the prison, ”wrote Pugacheva.
The reason for initiating a case against Roizman (Part 1 of Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code) was his live broadcast on July 1, 2022. According to the security officials, the oppositionist disseminated information that contained signs of «convincing the addressee of the negative nature of the goals of using the armed forces of the Russian Federation.» The ex-mayor is charged with the phrases “War in Ukraine” and “Invasion of Ukraine.”
In August 2022, Roizman was detained, his house, office, icon museum and charitable foundation were searched. The court ordered him to ban certain actions. At today's meeting, prosecutor Sokolov said that «Roizman's guilt has been proven», he called three fines under the administrative article on «discrediting» the military (part 1 of article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses) as the main confirmation of this.