Vladimir Vorontsov
Vladimir Vorontsov, born 1984, Moscow. Charges: Article 163 part 2, Russian Criminal Code (Extortion with the view to obtain property, with the use of violence, committed by a group of…); Article 242 part 3 item b, Russian Criminal Code (Illegal production and circulation of pornography through the Internet); Article 319, Russian Criminal Code (Public insult of a government official); “The case against the creator of the Internet forum "Police Ombudsman"”. Sentence (August 2, 2022): 5 years in a general regime penal colony. Status: at large. Recognition: Memorial Human Rights Centre — recognised as a political prisoner, February 5, 2022.
In brief
Moscow · Moscow · Bloggers
Sentence
5 years
in a general regime penal colony
No information about an appeal ruling.
Charges
- Article 163 part 2, Russian Criminal Code — Extortion with the view to obtain property, with the use of violence, committed by a group of persons or on a large scale
- Article 242 part 3 item b, Russian Criminal Code — Illegal production and circulation of pornography through the Internet.
- Article 319, Russian Criminal Code — Public insult of a government official
Full wording of the charges
According to the investigation, in August 2017, with the help of one of the administrators of the group "Police Ombudsman" E. Bolotseva, Vorontsov obtained an intimate photo of police officer R. Kurbanov, after which he demanded 300,000 rubles (US$3,250) from Kurbanov, threatening to publish the photo. When Kurbanov refused to pay, Vorontsov allegedly asked unidentified persons to publish the photo. In addition, according to the investigation, on 16 April 2020, in seven publications in the group "Police Ombudsman", Vorontsov insulted the operative Sergei Kobelev, who participated in the search of Vorontsov's house in 2017. In addition, according to the investigation, in September 2018 and February 2020, Vorontsov published intimate photos of interrogator G. Danshina. In addition, according to the investigation, on 28 December 2019, he demanded 30 thousand rubles (US$320) from Irina Andina, who had been dismissed from law enforcement services, for not publishing her intimate photos. Vorontsov himself claims that he received this amount from Andina for drafting her appeal against the court decision that recognised her dismissal as lawful, while the photos had been published earlier elsewhere by other people and were the reason for her dismissal. Andina was later charged with false denunciation, coupled with artificial creation of evidence for the prosecution, because of a film about prosecution of Vorontsov. In addition, according to the investigation, Vorontsov repeatedly published insults against L. Yudanova, head of the Legal Department of the Central Administrative District Department of the Russian Interior Ministry in Moscow.
Latest event
October 20, 2023 — imprisonment ends
Recognition by rights defenders
- Recognised as a political prisoner — Memorial Human Rights Centre, February 5, 2022
Timeline
· Imprisonment ends
· Persecution ends
· Preventive measure: pre-trial detention
Pre-trial Detention Centre №2 (SIZO-2) of the Federal Penitentiary Service of the Russian Federation for the Republic of Mordovia
· First-instance verdict
guilty verdict · 5 years
· Recognised as a political prisoner
Memorial Human Rights Centre
· Persecution begins
The case against the creator of the Internet forum "Police Ombudsman"
Criminal case
The case against the creator of the Internet forum "Police Ombudsman"
- Case number
- 01-0004/2022
Details and sources
Full summary
Vorontsov is a former police officer. In 2017, he created a public forum "Police Ombudsman" on the social network "VKontakte", where he published information about violations in the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. He resigned almost immediately afterwards. Some of the revelations published on the forum led to the resignations of head officials at various levels. On 8 April 2020, an administrative case was initiated against Vorontsov for abuse of freedom of mass information in connection with the publication about the coronavirus. On 14 April, he was searched in a criminal case on dissemination of knowingly false information posing a threat to life and safety. Vorontsov was questioned and released as a witness. On 7 May, he was detained in an extortion case. The court decided to take him into custody. Later it became known that a case of distribution of pornography was also initiated against Vorontsov, and after that, another case of insulting a representative of the authorities. By August 2020, according to the Russian News Agency TASS, more than ten cases had been initiated against Vorontsov, some of which did not reach the court. On 2 August 2022, Vorontsov was sentenced to five years in a general regime penal colony.
All fields of the record
- Citizenship
- Russia
Other people prosecuted under Article 163 part 2, Russian Criminal Code
Under the same article, not necessarily in the same case.