Press Release, 2.04.2026

Photo: Lev Shlosberg / Photo by Pskov Yabloko

Today, 2 April, the Pskov City Court resumed consideration of the investigator’s application to extend the remand in custody of Yabloko Deputy Chairman Lev Shlosberg in the case concerning “fake news” about the Russian Armed Forces (Article 207.3, Part 2, of the Criminal Code). The hearing had originally begun on 31 March but was adjourned at Shlosberg’s request, as he stated that he had not been notified of the hearing and had had no opportunity to review the investigator’s application.

When the hearing resumed on Thursday, the judge immediately closed the proceedings to members of the public and the media, at the request of investigator. The investigator argued that personal data and excerpts from correspondence might be disclosed in the course of the proceedings — the material which, in the investigator’s view, could not be made public.

Lev Shlosberg objected, noting that since 11 February, when case materials had been read out in the regional court during an appeal against his remand, the investigative secrecy had ceased to exist, as the press and public had long been aware of the details of this high-profile case. The politician stressed that of the 200 pages of case materials, only five — the investigator’s application — were the subject of that day’s hearing, and gave his undertaking not to disclose any personal data contained therein.

Shlosberg then quoted the Chairman of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, Igor Krasnov — “an open hearing is a matter of public trust in the court” — and drew the judge’s attention to the position stated by Russian President Vladimir Putin on 19 February: that remand in custody is inadmissible in cases involving non-violent offences.

The judge heard the politician’s submission and closed the hearing. Four hours later, journalists, relatives and colleagues of Shlosberg who had been waiting in the corridor were informed that his remand had been extended until 2 June.

“All the arguments put forward by the defence and by Lev Shlosberg himself — that there were no grounds whatsoever for applying the most stringent custodial measure — were disregarded by the court,” Pskov Yabloko reports. “The ruling will be appealed.”

It should be noted that Lev Shlosberg has been held in pre-trial detention since 5 December 2025. He is charged with spreading “fake news about the army” in connection with a repost made on his Telegram channel in February 2022. This is chronologically the third case brought against Lev Shlosberg. It was opened on the eve of the expiry of the six-month period of his house arrest under the second case, which concerned the “repeated discrediting of the army”.

The materials in the “fake news” case have been fabricated, Lev Shlosberg stated at the court hearing on 11 February.

In addition, Lev Shlosberg is currently appealing his conviction in the so-called “foreign agent labels” case — in which the court previously sentenced him to 420 hours of community service for retaining five video recordings made by other people on his social media page. The conviction contains 99 violations of the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure.