Shlyakov Valentin Valentinovich

In Moscow in January 2023 (the exact date is unknown), a criminal case was opened against a local resident and blogger Valentin Shlyakov for defamation of a judge. According to the investigation, Shlyakov published a video on his YouTube channel in which he talked about corruption in the judiciary. In particular, he stated that the judge of the Vyborgsky District Court of St. Petersburg, Zinaida Volkova, took a bribe in the amount of 10 million rubles for changing the measure of restraint. According to the blogger, intermediaries were involved in this scheme. Shlyakov was in a pre-trial detention center on charges of extremism and terrorism at the time the defamation case was initiated. On October 5, 2023, the Tverskoy District Court of Moscow found Valentin Shlyakov guilty and sentenced him to 300 hours of compulsory labor. In connection with the expiration of the statute of limitations for bringing criminal liability, the court released the blogger from the imposed punishment. On November 18, 2024, the Moscow City Court upheld the verdict. In Moscow in August 2021, blogger Valentin Shlyakov was detained. He was accused of public calls for extremist activities. According to the investigation, Shlyakov, being the organizer and leader of the informal public movement "Committee for the Salvation of Russia, which set as its goal the discrediting of decisions made by the authorities, provoking clashes with law enforcement, and the violent overthrow of the constitutional order of the Russian Federation, negatively relating to the existing system of state authorities in the Russian Federation and its federal structure, having a criminal intent to publicly call for terrorist activities, created a video address "Address to the Peoples of Russia and Khabarovsk, containing calls for an unlimited number of people to participate in unauthorized public events aimed at the violent seizure of power, after which he published it in free access on the video hosting site "YouTube" belonging to him. On August 19, 2021, the Meshchansky District Court of Moscow chose a measure of restraint for Shlykova in the form of detention. No later than February 2022, the charges against Shlyakov were toughened: another episode of calls for extremism was added, and he was accused of publicly justifying terrorism. The details of the charges are unknown. On August 4, 2022, the 2nd Western Military District Court found Valentin Shlyakov guilty and sentenced him to four years in a general regime colony (presumably). On October 19, 2022, the Appellate Military Court upheld the verdict.