Nikolay Avdyushenkov

On 9 March 2009, a search took place at the rented flat where several supporters of Eduard Limonov lived and where Avdyushenkov was a guest on that day, with the participation of district commissioner Elgan Arkhadov, whose testimony later formed the basis of the charges. In particular, according to his testimony, he found Avdyushenkov distributing leaflets on his way to the flat where the search was to take place, which Arkhadov was to attend. The leaflets were subsequently discovered during the search. There are serious doubts as to whether Avdyushenkov was distributing the printed materials on the day of the search. According to the Natsbola witnesses, when, according to the detention report, Avdyushenkov was pasting leaflets, he was actually in the flat where the search took place. The leaflets were found in a cupboard, and the detention report was drawn up right in the flat. These leaflets and the files found on Avdyushenkov's laptop were subjected to a psychological and linguistic examination conducted by N.I. Batov, candidate of psychological sciences, and N.N. Kryukova, deputy director of the Russian Institute of Cultural Studies. The conclusion of the expertise No. 321/09 of 27.11.2009 was biased against Avdyushenkov and did not quite legitimately link the content of the materials examined (in particular, the leaflets with the inscriptions "Kill the slave in you!" and "He trusted the government and the president!") to the activities of the banned National Bolshevik Party. On 4 December 2009, Avdyushenkov was charged by the Babushkinsky District Prosecutor's Office and the case against him was referred to the court for consideration. During the court arguments, the prosecution requested that Avdyushenkov be sentenced to one year's imprisonment in a penal colony. The prosecutor's office also asked to take into account that Avdyushenkov already has one sentence under Article 282 of the Criminal Code. He was charged with extremist activity after he, as part of a group of Natsbols, barricaded himself in the Russian Foreign Ministry's reception room in 2008 in defence of Natsbol Linderman. The Natsbols hung a banner "The Foreign Ministry is a den of traitors" from the windows, protesting against the "inaction of the authorities in protecting the rights of the Russian-speaking population in Latvia." For this action Avdiushenkov received a one-year suspended sentence. On 30 January 2011, after his conviction on 27 January 2011, investigative measures were carried out against Nikolai Avdiushenkov in the form of a search in a criminal case under part 3 of art. 212 of the Criminal Code ("Appeals to the Russian-speaking population of Latvia"). 212 of the Criminal Code ("Calls for active disobedience to the lawful demands of representatives of the authorities and mass disorder, as well as calls for violence against citizens"). There are reasons to assume that the reason is Avdyushenkov's participation in the activities of the Organising Committee of Strategy-31, as the search at his flat was carried out on the eve of the next action on Triumfalnaya Square in Moscow for freedom of assembly. In the sentence handed down to Avdyushenkov, he was sentenced to one year of suspended imprisonment with a probation period of three years, during which he was prohibited from attending mass events - rallies and marches held on the territory of the Russian Federation, and the court also ordered him to get a job. Otherwise, his suspended sentence will be changed to a penal colony. The court has not yet imposed such restrictions on the constitutional rights of opposition activists. The Moscow City Court explained that the court was guided by Part 5 of Article 73 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (suspended sentence), where among other additional obligations imposed on the convicted person there is a clause "not to visit certain places". During the court hearing on the appeal against the verdict, Avdyushenkov's defence counsel filed a motion to dismiss the criminal case due to the expiry of the statute of limitations. On 14 March 2011, Babushkinski District Court Judge Anton Martynenko overturned the conviction of Mikalai Avdiushenkov for participation in the activities of an extremist organisation due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.