Court cancels sentence to Rostov resident for graffiti about Putin

In Krasnodar, a court of cassation cancelled the verdict to Mikhail Selitsky, who was sentenced to compulsory treatment in a psychiatric hospital in a case on vandalism motivated by political hostility. The court sent the case for retrial. That was reported by the “OVD-Info”* human rights project with reference to advocate Rustam Mukhamadeev.

According to the court’s official website, the grounds for the annulment of the sentence were “significant violations of the criminal procedure law and criminal law.”

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that in Rostov-on-Don, a court sentenced Mikhail Selitsky to one and a half years of restriction of freedom and compulsory treatment in a psychiatric hospital. The defence filed an appeal, and in December, the court reduced the term of restriction of freedom for Mikhail Selitsky by a month, but upheld the compulsory psychiatric treatment.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on March 26, 2021, in Rostov-on-Don, the police detained three persons. According to the information of the intelligence services, the detainees were members of an extremist grouping and were planning acts of vandalism against government facilities. Among the detainees were Kirill Skripin, Mikhail Selitsky, and their minor acquaintance.

*Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of foreign agents.