Boris Nadezhdin found guilty of “displaying extremist symbols”

Boris Nadezhdin found guilty of “displaying extremist symbols”

The court fined the politician one thousand rubles. The reason was a portrait of Alexei Navalny. In 2023, Nadezhdin announced on Telegram a stream by politician Elvira Vikhareva featuring himself; in the video, Navalny’s photograph was shown for about 10 seconds.

“The real goal of what is happening here is to shut me up and prevent me from running for the State Duma,” he said. After the court ruling enters into force, the politician will not be able to take part in the upcoming elections.

Speaking in court, Nadezhdin pointed out the unfairness of the charges and described his circumstances:

If you suddenly find me guilty, which in itself would be surprising, the possible punishment is a fine or arrest. In my situation, hardly either can be applied. Because I am a person with a second-degree disability, Your Honor. And arrest is not applied to people with a second-degree disability. I’ve had two heart attacks. I have diabetes. I’m a sick man. When I came here, my blood pressure was, everyone saw it, I measured it: 200 over 120. I’ll just die there, you understand? I’ll croak. If I’m sitting in a stuffy cell.

And I won’t be able to pay the fine either, Your Honor, unfortunately. Because after the presidential election, it wasn’t only the police who came after me with this protocol. The Justice Ministry came after me too, and gave me a medal. They declared me a foreign agent. Then the bailiffs came after me too, Your Honor, as part of bankruptcy proceedings. Accordingly, all my accounts have been frozen. They approved a subsistence minimum for me. A subsistence minimum for the children and treatment expenses. 30 thousand rubles a month.

During the proceedings, Nadezhdin felt unwell because of high blood pressure. The hearing was interrupted, an ambulance crew arrived at the court, but later the process continued.

In the cards, we look back at the history of the persecution of Boris Nadezhdin, talk about his political views, and his attempts to fight for power.

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