There is a total purge of all subjects who are capable of defending rights, the law and the Constitution.
The repression directly violates international law and the country’s constitution.
On September 7, 2023, the Yakut City Court of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), the largest region of the Russian Federation, considered a fabricated, politically motivated case against me, independent civil activist Stepan Petrov, case No. 5-1539/2023.
As a result, an illegal guilty verdict was reached in violation of the basic principles of legal proceedings and procedural norms.
The case was fabricated by the Russian Ministry of Justice for political reasons.
The case is available on the court’s website at:
The court’s website is blocked for foreign access.
Therefore, outside Russia, this link is available through VPN technology, and you need to select a Russian IP address.
Below are screenshots of the court website related to my case.
I do not agree with the court’s decision.
I consider this an act of political repression against me for my many years of public, anti-corruption, human rights and international activities.
For a number of years I have been involved in anti-corruption activities against Yakut officials.
I have uncovered a number of corruption mechanisms that Yakut corrupt officials apply directly to laws and legal acts for the purpose of illegal enrichment and theft of budget funds.
In the course of anti-corruption activities, I encountered powerful opposition from local Yakut officials and law enforcement officers, subordinate to the federal centre.
This happened due to the fact that large volumes of natural resources are extracted in Yakutia and a significant flow of financial resources is generated.
Part of the financial flow is the basis for the corrupt enrichment of Yakut officials. These are very large amounts of money.
Approximately 99% of all Russian diamonds are mined in Yakutia. Gold, oil, gas, timber, antimony, tin, uranium and other natural resources are also mined.
The natural resources of Yakutia are developed mainly by enterprises registered in Moscow or abroad. Most of the taxes from mining are sent to the federal budget, that is, to Moscow.
Currently, a significant portion of these funds is used to finance the armed conflict in Ukraine.
My anti-corruption activities, as well as international activities, became the basis for including me and my organization in the register of foreign agents, which became the basis for persecuting me and the organization on a systematic and comprehensive basis by state, law enforcement and judicial authorities of Russia.
I consider the charges brought by the Ministry of Justice, on the basis of which the illegal guilty decision was made, to be unfounded.
The court and the Ministry of Justice applied defective rules of law that themselves violate the law.
Thus, the Ministry of Justice first itself violates anti-corruption legislation, approves defective norms and then initiates illegal prosecution based on the application of these defective norms.
The violation of the law, on the basis of which the unjust decision was made, is described in detail in the anti-corruption examination presented in the material describing the essence of the case, “No to political repression in Russia.”
http://stepanpetrov.blogspot.com/2023/08/blog-post.html
Taking into account past experience, we can say that it is almost impossible to appeal an unfair court decision in Russia in such custom-made political cases.
When appealing past guilty decisions of courts, my arguments in my defence were simply not considered. The judges did not attach materials to the case and did not consider them properly. A pre-prepared guilty decision was made.
Once, they convicted me in just 50 seconds, without considering the defense arguments and without postponing the trial due to illness. Thus, my constitutional right to defend myself was violated.
In violation of the basic principles of legal proceedings and procedural norms, the judge did not study the case materials and the defence’s arguments but simply got up and went into the deliberation room, returning from there with a pre-prepared guilty decision.
Thus, the political reprisal against me at the hands of a judge dependent on the executive power took less than a minute.
This case is described in the following material, “The Yakut case of foreign agent Stepan Petrov: Judge Alekseeva fulfilled a political order in 50 seconds.”
http://stepanpetrov.blogspot.com/2022/01/50-4-2022-17-2021-19.html
These repressive punitive actions of the authorities destabilize the normal functioning of the organization.
The Set of Measures for the peaceful settlement of the armed conflict between Ukraine and Russia is currently being implemented.
This is a priority area of the organization’s activities.
The initiative “Assistance in peaceful settlement of armed conflict between Ukraine and Russia” is available at the following links:
– in Russian http://ouropinion.pro/?page_id=478;
– in English http://ouropinion.pro/?page_id=471.
However, the state and judicial authorities of Russia, illegally bringing me to justice for political reasons, prevent my constructive participation, as a subject of civil society, in the peaceful resolution of the armed conflict between Ukraine and Russia.
This creates conditions for further escalation of the conflict and growing irreversible catastrophic consequences.
I, Stepan Petrov, as Head of Subject of International Law, reserve the right to initiate prosecution of Russian judges and officials guilty of illegally bringing me to justice, within the framework of Russian legislation and international law.
After analysis, systematization, legal assessment of this case and other cases of illegal persecution of me by state, law enforcement and judicial bodies of Russia, appeals will be sent to international organizations in which Russia participates, primarily to the UN.
Appeals will be sent to:
-UN Secretary General,
-UN Economic and Social Council,
-UN High Commissioner for Human Rights,
-UN Human Rights Committee,
-UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers,
-UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders,
-other UN bodies.
Russia, as a member of the UN, has corresponding international legal obligations within the framework of international treaties that it has voluntarily ratified.
In Russia, I was repeatedly brought to justice for political reasons in the absence of any legal grounds for violating a number of international treaties ratified by Russia.
For this reason, Russia must be held accountable for systematic violations of voluntarily assumed international legal obligations.
I assess this political persecution as an obstruction of the legitimate activities of the Head of Subject of International Law – Non-Governmental Organization with Special Consultative Status with the UN Economic and Social Council carried out within the framework of international law.
The international activities of our organization are carried out in accordance with UN Resolution 1996/31, which defines the powers of Organizations with consultative status, as well as UN guidelines and international law.
However, a number of officials, judges and law enforcement officers in Russia have been illegally pursuing me for a long time.
In view of this, they must be brought to international legal responsibility for violating international treaties ratified by Russia, violating my rights and obstructing my legal activities.
Screenshots of the court website in case No. 5-1539/2023
