On Friday, February 5, the Babushkin District Court of Moscow will hear a defamation case against the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
In the summer of 2020, the RT channel released a campaign video for the adoption of amendments to the Constitution of Russia. Designer Artemy Lebedev, figure skater Adelina Sotnikova, actor Ivan Okhlobystin, veteran Ignat Artemenko and others starred in it.
Navalny reposted the video, provided it with a comment: "Oh, here they are, little ones. It must be admitted that for now the team of salesmen looks weak. Look at them: this is the shame of the country. People without conscience. Traitors."
After this comment, Navalny, at the request of 93-year-old veteran Ignat Artemenko, who starred in the video, was engaged by the Investigative Committee. He regarded the statement as "distribution of knowingly false information, defaming the honor and dignity of a veteran" and opened a criminal case against him.
The maximum penalty for this is imprisonment for up to two years. However, Navalny will be sentenced based on the previous version of the article. There, the maximum punishment is a fine of up to 1 million rubles or mandatory work.
Let us remind you that on February 2, the Moscow City Court considered a petition to change Alexei Navalny's restraining order from a conditional term to a real one in the "Yves Roche" case. The oppositionist was sentenced to 3,5 years in prison, although he will spend about 2,5 years behind bars.
