The Meshchansky District Court of Moscow sentenced Elena Kotenochkina, the former municipal deputy of the Krasnoselsky district, who left Russia, to 7.5 years in prison in absentia. This was reported by a Mediazona correspondent from the courtroom.
The prosecutor’s office asked to sentence Kotenochkina in absentia to 8.5 years in prison in the case of military “fakes” (points “a”, “b”, “d” of part 2 Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code).
The reason for the persecution was a meeting of municipal deputies on March 15, 2022, during which deputy Alexey Gorinov proposed to consider not a leisure work plan, but to declare a minute of silence “for the victims of the ongoing military aggression in Ukraine.” The meeting was broadcast on the website and on the YouTube channel of the Council of Deputies.
“Tell me, please, what kind of children's drawing competition can we talk about, timed to coincide with Children's Day? — he turned to his colleagues. — And about organizing dance programs dedicated to Victory Day? When our children die every day, I will tell you, for information, that about a hundred children died in Ukraine.” Elena Kotenochkina supported him and jokingly suggested holding a drawing competition “children against war.”
In July 2022, Gorinov was sentenced to seven years in prison in the case of military “fakes” due to participation in this meeting. Later, another criminal case was opened against him for justifying terrorism (Part 1 of Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code) because of his conversations with cellmates about the Ukrainian Azov.
At the end of May, the court did not allow the defense to question Kotenochkina as a witness convicted deputies Ilya Yashin and Alexey Gorinov. The prosecutor's office insisted that there were “no grounds” for their interrogation, and besides, the charge against Gorinov was related to the same episode as Kotenochkina’s. Judge Goryunova supported the position of the state prosecution.