October 20, 2026, 10:54 AMRSSRU

Alexander Nikolayenko

At largeChecked October 18, 2026

Alexander Nikolayenko, born 1957, Kemerovo Oblast. Charges: Article 319 (part unknown), Russian Criminal Code (Public insult of a government official); “Nikolayenko's case of insulting Tuleyev”, opened on February 1, 2013. Sentence (May 4, 2014): work: six months of correctional labour suspended; previously convicted under Article 319 (part unknown), Russian Criminal Code; Article 280 part 1, Russian Criminal Code. Status: at large. Recognition: Union of Solidarity with Political Prisoners — recognised as a political prisoner, December 8, 2015; Memorial Human Rights Centre — recognised as a political prisoner, October 12, 2011.

In brief

Kemerovo Oblast · Belovo, Novokuznetsk · Artists · Extremism cases

Sentence

work: six months of correctional labour suspended

Verdict May 4, 2014

No information about an appeal ruling.

Other verdicts

  • December 19, 2012 — the case was dismissed due to the expiry of the statute of limitations
  • November 18, 2009 — Terms: two years and six months.

Charges

Full wording of the charges

published on the Internet a poem and photos insulting the head of the Kemerovo region, Aman Tuleyev

Latest event

December 8, 2015 — recognised as a political prisoner

Union of Solidarity with Political Prisoners

Checked October 18, 2026 · no changes since October 15

Recognition by rights defenders

Timeline

  1. · Recognised as a political prisoner

    Union of Solidarity with Political Prisoners

  2. · Persecution ends

  3. · First-instance verdict

    guilty verdict

  4. · Criminal case opened

    Nikolayenko's case of insulting Tuleyev

  5. · Persecution ends

  6. · First-instance verdict

    case dismissed

Criminal case

Nikolayenko's case of insulting Tuleyev

There are no other defendants in this case in the database.

Nikolaenko's extremism case

There are no other defendants in this case in the database.

Nikolaenko's case of insulting Putin and Tuleyev

There are no other defendants in this case in the database.

Details and sources

Full summary

According to OVD-Info

In February 2007, criminal proceedings were initiated against Nikolayenko on the materials of his speech at the rally in front of the FSB building under the articles "calls to overthrow the constitutional order" and "incitement of interethnic and social discord". The FSB officers offered Nikolaenko to stop his political activity, but he refused. On 10 May 2007, he was detained and taken to the Belov Department of Internal Affairs. One of the FSS officers tortured Nikolaenko, strangled him, and when he lost consciousness, hit him on the head with the handle of a pistol. On 11 May Nikolaenko was released without any charges. On 14 May 2007, he filed a complaint with the prosecutor's office about the torture he had been subjected to in the GUVD. On 15 May 2007, Nikolaenko was detained by prosecutors who took him to a psychiatric hospital in Kemerovo. Doctors declared him healthy. In July 2007, Nikolaenko was taken into custody. He kept a long hunger strike, opposing the criminal prosecution of the opposition. On 17 August he was transferred to the detention centre of the court. The first hearing in the case was held on 21 August 2007, and there were 20 hearings in total. In court, the charges of "inciting discord" were dropped, and the charges of "calls to overthrow the state system" were reclassified from the second to the first part. The hearings were initially held in strict secrecy. After the interrogation of witnesses, the regime was relaxed. During breaks Nikolaenko was beaten in the guard room for "improper behaviour" and handcuffed to the ceiling of the cage. The judge did not accept petitions, challenges, deprived of the right to participate in debates, deprived of the last word. On 19 November 2007, Nikolaenko was sentenced to two and a half years' imprisonment in a strict regime colony.

On 18 December 2009 he was released

In June 2010, employees of the Centre for Combating Extremism took Nikolaenko to the investigation department of the Novokuznetsk prosecutor's office, where he was handed a ruling to open a criminal case for insulting Putin and the head of the Kemerovo region, Aman Tuleyev, in the performance of their official duties. The investigator considered the leaflet, which Nikolaenko distributed at the rally on 24 March 2010 in Belove, to be an insult.

On 17 August the case was transferred to the department for investigation of especially important cases of crimes against state power of the Investigative Committee under the Prosecutor's Office. On 1 December Nikolaenko was detained and taken to a psychiatric hospital in Kemerovo for examination. On 24 February 2011, Nikolaenko received a ruling to stop criminal prosecution against him under articles on libel, public calls for extremist activities, incitement to hatred or enmity and organisation of activities of an extremist organisation; on 20 December 2012, the insult case was closed due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.

In May 2014, the investigator tried to initiate criminal proceedings for the same leaflet under Articles 280, 282 and 282.2 of the Criminal Code, but an expert linguist showed that there was no corpus delicti in these propaganda materials.

In 2013, Nikolayenko became a suspect in a case of insulting Tuleyev in connection with the publication of a series of comic book photos on the Internet. On 5 May 2014, he was given a six-month suspended sentence.

All fields of the record
Citizenship
Russia
Persecution episodes
3
Sources (2)

Other people prosecuted under Article 280 part 1, Russian Criminal Code

Under the same article, not necessarily in the same case.

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