The Bogdanovichi City Court of the Sverdlovsk Region partially satisfied the claim for the protection of honor and dignity, which was filed by the mayor of the city Oleg Neufeld against local resident Irina Kostyleva, who called him a “bandit.” The court ordered the woman to pay the official 25 thousand rubles, writes E1.ru.
In the fall of 2023, Kostyleva wrote in the comments to the news about the redistribution of the funeral market in Bogdanovich that “there is a raider takeover of the cemetery” in the city, which is facilitated by Neufeld. “Your regulations are that soon people will take out loans so that their grave can be dug… Our mayor is a bandit, and bandits love a lot of money,” E1.ru quotes the woman.
The mayor's lawsuit states that after this comment his “health deteriorated, mental unrest and anxiety began.” In addition, the official indicated that he began to “feel uncomfortable” in front of his subordinates, colleagues and relatives. Neufeld demanded to recover 50 thousand rubles from Kostyleva.
A 38-year-old resident of Bogdanovich is the wife of a participant in the war in Ukraine and has two children. The woman’s lawyer, Evgenia Krotova, told E1.ru that she will appeal the court’s decision.
Neufeld commented on the article of the Ural publication with the words “making excuses is not my story.” “I am the same full-fledged citizen. And who said that you can throw at me 💩? Or does the head automatically become a target for throwing darts?” — the mayor wrote.
In September 2023, the Funeral Trust telegram channel reported that after Neufeld became mayor of Bogdanovich, he carried out personnel changes, and the cost of funerals in the city increased sharply. To obtain a cemetery plot or permission to erect a monument, people had to contact the “Municipal Customer Office”, where they were required to pay 14 thousand rubles for a place in the cemetery. At the same time, officials claimed that this service is free.