Vladimir Kazantsev
Vladimir Kazantsev, Chelyabinsk Oblast. Charges: Article 159 part 3, Russian Criminal Code (Large-scale fraud); Article 159 part 4 applied with Article 30 part 1, Russian Criminal Code (Preparations for fraud (by an organized group or on an especially large scale, or resulting in the…); “Vladimir Kazantsev fraud case”. Sentence (October 19, 2022): 4 years' deprivation of liberty in a general regime penal colony. Status: deceased.
In brief
Chelyabinsk Oblast · Chelyabinsk · Human rights defenders, Lawyers
Sentence
4 years
deprivation of liberty in a general regime penal colony
No information about an appeal ruling.
Charges
- Article 159 part 3, Russian Criminal Code — Large-scale fraud
- Article 159 part 4 applied with Article 30 part 1, Russian Criminal Code — Preparations for fraud (by an organized group or on an especially large scale, or resulting in the deprivation of a citizen's right to housing)
Full wording of the charges
According to the investigation, Kazantsev, while providing legal services, misled his client, Maxim Shtein, and received 500,000 rubles from him in order to give it to court officials as a bribe.
Latest event
December 17, 2024 — persecution ends
Timeline
· Persecution ends
· Imprisonment ends
· First-instance verdict
guilty verdict · 4 years
· Preventive measure: travel ban (written undertaking)
· Preventive measure: house arrest
· Persecution begins
Vladimir Kazantsev fraud case
Criminal case
Vladimir Kazantsev fraud case
Details and sources
Full summary
A lawyer and human rights defender, he initiated several environmental court cases in Chelyabinsk, and his organisation Ecological Consulting demanded that decisions to build the Tominsky mining and processing plant (GOK) and a landfill in Poletaevo be declared illegal.
He was arrested on suspicion of fraud on 26 August 2020. The support group links the prosecution to Putin's upcoming visit to the city, to the Legislative Assembly elections in September, and to the session on recognising the construction of the mining and processing combine in the city as illegal. Vladimir himself actively opposed this combine.
The investigation closed the case materials for public familiarisation and forbade Kazantsev to disclose information about the course of the investigation. The courts declared the sessions closed from the audience and the media.
On 19 October 2022, he was sentenced to 4 years' imprisonment.
Kazantsev died in the colony in December 2024.
All fields of the record
- Citizenship
- Russia
Other people prosecuted under Article 159 part 3, Russian Criminal Code
Under the same article, not necessarily in the same case.