Press Release, 28.02.2023

Photo: Viktor Shalyakin / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service

Viktor Shalyakin, Chairman of the local branch of the Yabloko party in Novgorod, won the second lawsuit against the Russian Federation in connection with the illegal prosecution under the administrative article on “discrediting the army”. On 27 February, the Novgorod District Court satisfied the claims of Viktor Shalyakin against the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Finance for compensation of the court costs and compensation for non-pecuniary damage.

On 20 April, 2022, police major Irina Inkueva filed three protocols at once on administrative offenses against Viktor Shalyakin, including the allegation of “discrediting the armed forces”. The reason was a video posted on the social network Vkontakte, in which Shalyakin, a veteran of the armed forces of the Russian Federation and an aviation major, told two stories: about the war in Afghanistan and the evacuation of Russian refugees from Shiraki airport in 1991.

On 21 May, 2022, the judge of the Novgorod District Court found Shalyakin guilty and fined him 45,000 roubles. However, on 27 July, the Novgorod Regional Court terminated the proceedings due to lack of evidence.

In November 2022, Viktor Shalyakin filed a lawsuit against the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Finance of Russia, in which he asked to compensate him for the material damage and the non-pecuniary damage. The court’s ruling was that the Russian Federation must reimburse the Chairman of the Novgorod local branch of Yabloko for the costs of linguistic expertise, payment for the services of defence lawyers, and also pay compensation for the moral damage in the amount of 20,000 roubles.

It should be noted that in total in 2022, four administrative protocols were drawn up against Viktor Shalyakin: one about “illegal campaigning”, one about “insulting the authorities”, and two about “discrediting the army”. In the course of numerous legal proceedings, two fines against Viktor Shalyakin – on “illegal campaigning” and “discrediting the army” – were appealed to higher courts. The sum of the remaining two fines, which Yabloko with the support of donors helped Shalyakin to pay to the budget of the RF, amounted to 80,000 roubles.

In November 2022, Viktor Shalyakin filed a lawsuit against the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Finance of Russia in connection with the illegal persecution of allegedly illegal campaigning. On 30 January, 2023, the court ordered the Russian Federation to reimburse Viktor Shalyakin for the costs of linguistic expertise and lawyer’s services, as well as to pay compensation for the moral damage in the amount of 15,000 roubles.