Press Release, 12.12.2025

Photo: Lev Shlosberg at the court hearing on 12 December 2025 via video link from Pskov Remand Prison No. 1 / Photo by Anna Cherepanova

The Pskov Regional Court considered the appeal against the detention of Yabloko Deputy Chair Lev Shlosberg in just 2.5 hours and, despite numerous violations by the court of first instance, left the politician in pre-trial detention. The hearing was held behind closed doors – not only the media but also dozens of members of the public were barred from the courtroom, including Anna Cherepanova, Yabloko Deputy Chair and Chair of the Novgorod regional branch of Yabloko. She had travelled specially to Pskov to support her colleague.

It should be noted that on 3 December criminal proceedings were initiated against Shlosberg for so-called “fakes about the army” (Article 207.3, Part 2, of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) over a repost in a Telegram channel made in February 2022. The politician has been in custody since 5 December. In the appeal against his detention, filed on 10 December, lawyer Vladimir Danilov pointed out that at the time such a “crime” as a repost was allegedly committed, there was not such an article on “fakes” in Russian law yet.

Moreover, the court of first instance failed to prove a single lawful ground for placing Shlosberg in pre-trial detention: neither evidence that the accused might abscond, nor evidence that he would continue to commit crimes or threaten participants in the proceedings (or destroy evidence). Such grounds are set out in Article 97, Part 1, of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, and only on these grounds may and must the court decide on a preventive measure. Under the law, the reasons for detaining a person cannot be based on assumptions by the investigation, the prosecution, or the Ministry of Internal Affairs; they must be supported by facts and proven. However, on 5 December at Pskov City Court this was not done – on the contrary, Shlosberg’s defence proved the opposite.

In the appeal, the defence also explained that in another criminal case – the case of the “lost foreign agent labels” (the second criminal case opened against Shlosberg) under Article 330.1, Part 2, of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation – Lev Shlosberg was also, as in the current criminal case, charged with making publications on the Internet. At that time, nothing prevented the court from imposing a written undertaking on Shlosberg not to leave, and this did not lead to any actions from the list in Article 97 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (grounds for allying a measure of restraint). In other words, the measure of a written undertaking was sufficient.

It is also important to emphasise that a new criminal case (a third case) concerning “fakes” appeared on the eve of the expiry of the maximum period of house arrest – six months – permitted under Lev Shlosberg’s other case concerning “discrediting the army”. An extension of this period is not provided for by law. Furthermore, Shlosberg is currently appealing the verdict in the case of the “lost ‘foreign agent’ labels”, already mentioned above. In those proceedings, on 5 November the court sentenced the politician to 420 hours of community service for keeping five other people’s videos on his VKontakte personal page without “foreign agent” labelling. In the appeal against the verdict, Shlosberg and his defence pointed to 99 violations committed by the court of first instance.

Nevertheless, on 12 December, Pskov Regional Court rejected the appeal against the lower court’s ruling on detention of Lev Shlosberg. After the decision was announced, Yabloko Deputy Chair and Chair of the Novgorod Regional Branch Anna Cherepanova reminded everyone that the appeal hearing took place on Constitution Day, whilst all the criminal cases brought against Shlosberg have been fabricated because of his anti-war views and opposition political activities:

“I am convinced that the decision in Shlosberg’s case was taken not even in the courtroom, but in high-ranking officials’ offices, where people’s fates are now decided. There are no legal grounds whatsoever to hold Lev Shlosberg under arrest, and there never have been – this has been convincingly proven by the lawyers and by Lev Shlosberg himself. The only reason for the most severe preventive measure is to exert pressure on him and on the Yabloko party ahead of the State Duma 2026 elections. The hearing on the preventive measure takes place on Russia’s Constitution Day, which guarantees everyone freedom of speech and thought, and the right to judicial protection, but, as the cases against Shlosberg demonstrate, constitutional guarantees in Russia have been turned into empty declarations. The meaning of the Constitution has been hollowed out, citizens’ rights have been trampled upon and transformed into an optional set of words.”

The Yabloko party will do everything in its power, acting within the legal framework, to secure Lev Shlosberg’s release and acquittal, Anna Cherepanova said.

Photo: Anna Cherepanova with her sister Ksenia and Lev Shlosberg’s support group at Pskov Regional Court / Photo from a Telegram channel

It should be also noted that earlier Yabloko party Chair Nikolai Rybakov emphasised that the persecution of Lev Shlosberg “is connected exclusively with his many years of public and political activities, his consistent defence of citizens’ rights and the principles of the rule of law”.

“The actions of which he is accused cannot be grounds for depriving a person of their liberty,” Nikolai Rybakov stated on 5 December, the day of Shlosberg’s arrest. “We express our absolute support for Lev Shlosberg and demand a fair and impartial examination of his case in the judicial institutions. The Yabloko party continues to uphold the need for adherence to the Constitution, the rule of law, and the inadmissibility of using criminal prosecution for political purposes.”

It should be noted that the regional council of Pskov Yabloko on 10 December expressed its resolute protest against the criminal prosecution of Lev Shlosberg, and he himself, through his lawyer, conveyed words of gratitude to all supporters for their backing and said that he was “ready for the ordeals that have befallen him”.