Vladimir Kazantsev
- Criminal Code
- Article 159 part 3, Russian Criminal CodeArticle 159 part 4 applied with Article 30 part 1, Russian Criminal Code
- Verdict
- Imprisonment (general regime)
- Sentence
- 4 years
- Date of verdict
- 2022-10-19
- Region
- Chelyabinsk Oblast
- City
- Chelyabinsk
Case 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.
Others charged under Article 159 part 3, Russian Criminal Code
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Source: this person’s record in the OVD-Info political persecution database
Published under CC BY 3.0. The criteria for treating a person as politically persecuted belong to OVD-Info; FACTUM relays their assessment and makes none of its own.
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