Court stops case against KBR resident on discrediting Russian Army

The Elbrus District Court of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR) has terminated the proceedings on the case of an administrative offense against Vladimir Kryachko due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.

The court found that from September 2022 to April 2023, the above resident of the Elbrus District engaged in private people transportation, "publicly discredited the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and its citizens." At the same time, the court has concluded that the initiated proceedings are subject to termination due to the expiration of the statute of limitations for bringing a person to administrative responsibility. The statute of limitations for this article is three months, says the court's website.

In June this year, Vladimir Kryachko, a native of Ukraine and a Russian citizen, was invited to the police station. He was told that they had received two applications from female residents of the district that Kryachko, in his conversations with taxi customers, was discrediting the Russian Armed Forces. Law enforcers asked him how he felt about Zelensky, Putin, and the special military operation (SMO). Kryachko replied that "he does not get into politics; he does not belong to Zelensky in any way, and Putin is a good guy." Further, law enforcers gave him an audio recording to listen to, in which he allegedly criticizes Russian policy. Kryachko claimed that it was not his voice, and he had nothing to do with this conversation, the "Memorial" Centre for Defence of Human Rights has informed.

According to human rights defenders, one of the law enforcers told Kryachko that his guilt would still be proven and suggested that he "confess to at least something." Vladimir stated that he was not guilty of anything. The female witness told the police that she had used Kryachko's services three times, and during each trip the taxi driver "condemned the policy of Russian authorities and the SMO."