Badmaev Valeriy Antonovich

Valery Badmaev, a journalist and human rights activist, editor-in-chief of the publication Sovremennaya Kalmykia, was detained in Elista on December 9, 2022. A criminal case was opened against him for repeated "discrediting" the RF army. According to the investigation, the journalist made a repost on VKontakte of a video with a story by a fighter from the Azov battalion about the Russian army using phosphorus bombs against the defenders of the Azovstal plant in Mariupol. A search was conducted in Badmaev's apartment, his phone and laptop were confiscated, and the court chose a measure of restraint for him in the form of a ban on certain actions: the journalist was prohibited from using the Internet and other means of communication, leaving the house from 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM, and changing his place of residence. Earlier, Badmaeva was fined 35 thousand rubles under an administrative article on "discrediting the army" due to a VKontakte post of a video titled "Stop the war with Ukraine and dismiss Putin!" Opinion of public figure V.A. Badmaev. In March 2023, it became known that the examination did not find signs of discreditation in the video with the story of the 'Azov member.'", Prosecutors twice refused to approve the indictment in the case, but in the end the case went to court. On November 13, 2023, Judge Tatyana Boktaeva of the Elista City Court found Valery Badmaev guilty and sentenced him to a fine of 150 thousand rubles and a ban on publishing materials on the Internet and publishing a newspaper for 2 years."