Natalia Kovaleva

A criminal case against Natalia Kovaleva under Part 1 of Article 282 was initiated on 22 August 2018 by the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of the Saratov Region. The case was initiated in connection with the publication on the Internet of videos with satirical ditties, as well as statements about the corruption of the courts of the Saratov region. The case file mentions six videos that Kovaleva posted on her YouTube channel during April 2018. The case was opened after a complaint from the Saratov regional court. The IC considered that the clips contained statements promoting hatred towards the social group "judicial community", as well as expressing humiliating and "negative emotional assessments" of judges. On 1 October 2018, the Investigative Committee terminated the criminal case against Kovaleva due to the absence of corpus delicti.

On 25 September 2018, the Investigative Committee opened a new criminal case against Kovaleva under part 2 of article 297 of the Criminal Code (contempt of court) and part 1 of article. 298.1 CC (slander against a judge). According to the investigation, the woman insulted and slandered the judge of the Frunzensky District Court of Saratov, Irina Shustova, who was considering Kovaleva's civil suit.