In Voronezh, Judge of the Leninsky District Court Maria Kozyakova dismissed an administrative case against activist Dmitry Shcherbatyuk, who held a picket with a banner «Stop the war.» Information about this appeared on the website of the court, attention to this was drawn by the publication «7×7».
The decision to dismiss the case (Part 1 of Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses) was made by Kozyakova on June 29. From the video presented to the court, it follows that Shcherbatyuk “did not accompany his actions with any appeals and comments,” and indicated in written explanations that he wanted to express his civil position, the resolution says.
The judge emphasized that war had not been officially declared in Russia, but only a decision had been made to conduct a “special military operation”, therefore “the official’s conclusion that Shcherbatyuk discredited the use of the Russian Armed Forces in conducting a special military operation is based on assumption.”
The police officers indicated in the report that they demanded that the Voronezh resident stop the picket, but he did not listen to them and continued to stand with a banner. However, “from the video it is seen that no warning was given to Shcherbatyuk, he was immediately detained by the police,” Kozyakova noted.
The judge concluded that the picketer's guilt under the article on «discrediting» the military had not been proven. Shcherbatyuk himself did not participate in the meeting.
In March 2023, Kozyakova also returned to the police a protocol under the article on “discrediting” the army, drawn up against Alexander Dudchenko, who wrote an anti-war statement on the user’s page on VKontakte. The judge pointed out the contradictions in the document. Mediazona drew attention to the decision.
Also this year, Kozyakova dismissed three administrative cases on violation of the rules for holding rallies (part 5 of article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses). The protocols for three people were drawn up because of the action against mobilization, which took place on September 21 last year in Voronezh. Then about 50 people went to the monument to Lenin.
According to one of the decisions, a local resident, Tatyana Ablizova, testified in court that she “was walking in the city center next to the opera house, after which she went to a bus stop across Lenin Square, where she saw a crowd of people and came up to see what was happening.”
According to a resident of Voronezh, two police officers, without identifying themselves, “ran into her and dragged her into the car by force, causing bruises and bruises.” The security forces did not demand that the meeting participants leave the square, Ablizova said. As the judge emphasized, she is not present in five video recordings from the case file, taken from different angles.
Bukhantsev, deputy head of the police department of the Voronezh Interior Ministry department, who was interrogated, said that the police had received «information about an unsanctioned event against mobilization»; on the square, one of the security officials introduced himself and warned the participants «about the commission of an illegal act.» However, Kozyakova concluded that Ablizova could not have heard the warnings, since she was not on the video, and considered the woman's guilt unproven. For similar reasons, the judge canceled two other administrative cases.
In addition, the judge found Elena Zhuchkova innocent, who celebrated the 100th anniversary of the formation of the USSR and, together with two men, stood with the Soviet flag next to the City Duma building on December 30 last year. All three were detained. Kozyakova decided that the number of participants in the event “did not exceed the maximum number established by law”, and also took place in a specially designated place.
Updated at 16:10: added information about several stopped by the judge administrative affairs.