The trial of the defenders of the apple orchard: it became unsafe to love your city

Irina Mishina

It is difficult to understand why these people were punished.

Starting from Sunday, in the apple orchard planted in memory of the Great Patriotic War, Kiparis LLC has been cutting down apple trees. There was no clarity with the documents and felling tickets, the people with the saws initially did not have a subcontract agreement, all this caused the residents of the district to be wary. In addition, the felling of trees took place close to the railway and communications. “The works near the railway and in the apple orchard were carried out (and are probably being carried out now) with gross violations of safety regulations. The work area is not fenced, there are no information boards in the work area and from the park side. This is evidenced by the video recording data. These violations were reported to various supervisory authorities: a message with the number 107768 was left on the hotline of the Moscow government (7 sevens). On December 26, 2020, at about six o'clock in the evening, a statement was drawn up at the work site to the linear police department of Russian Railways. An appeal was left to #OATI through mos.ru. The municipal deputy of the Dorogomilovo district Valentina Tarasova also called the police several times. After each visit, the police said that the work was stopped. After each departure of police work resumed", - says Yekaterina Korolkova in her Facebook.

This information was confirmed by the municipal deputy of the Fili-Davydkovo district Andrei Larichev : “We found that LLC Kiparis, which, judging by the documentation, is engaged in planting plants, is engaged in massive felling of trees. We requested documents, felling tickets. The applicant for felling tickets was“ A new concession company. "It has a contractor - Professional Builder LLC. Subcontracting - from Cypress LLC. At the time of felling, there were no documents for subcontracting, we were shown only felling tickets. There was no shield or fence at the place of work. When the activists intervened and called the police, the work was stopped, and when the police left and it was getting dark, the work resumed, "the municipal deputy told NI.

People who, for some reason, hoped for justice, called the police, called the mayor's hotline, and used all possible legal, peaceful means of dialogue. But the city authorities were not heard. The appeal to law enforcement agencies also turned into a performance. However, the police showed enviable vigilance and efficiency and immediately arrived at the scene when desperate people tried to draw the attention of others to what was happening. First, 11 people were arrested. Just in case. One of them was filming, and another woman, Natalya Sayapina, did not go out on the road at all. Several were released at the OVD. Further on, messages from the Fili-Davydkovo police station in Moscow began to resemble combat reports.

“All 7 people are in Fili-Davydkovo. According to their reports, there is: hot (up to 30 degrees), no ventilation; Lawyers are NOT allowed; DO NOT take gear; water is given, but little. The court tomorrow (they leave again for the night). " According to activists, one of the detainees became ill and had to call an ambulance, local residents reported on Facebook. Novye Izvestia contacted the Fili-Davydkovo police station. The operational officer, who introduced himself as Aleksey Sergeevich, confirmed that the seven detainees who protested against the cutting down of the apple orchard had spent the night at the police station. “Everything was legitimate. There were no violations on our part. The detainees spent the night with us for 48 hours, then were taken to the Dorogomilovsky court, ”the officer on duty reported. The officer on duty refused to answer our question about the legality of the arrest for 48 hours of women in whose care were children under 14 years old.

“The people who came out to protest at Kutuzovsky did not interfere with the movement, they occupied at most two lanes, the cars bypassed them. After the arrest, after 3 hours, the women who had minor children were to be released, but they were left overnight. The detainees were visited by a public commission of observers from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, they confirmed that the cells are 30-degree heat, the conditions of detention are non-standard, let's say", - municipal deputy Andrey Larichev told NI.

On December 29, seven detainees were tried. The public figures were tried in the Dorogomilovsky court of Moscow. As reported to "NI" in the office of the court, a decision was made under Art. 20.2 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation - "Violation by the organizer of a public event of the established procedure for organizing or holding a meeting, meeting, demonstration, procession or picketing." One of the activists, Konstantin Fokin, was charged under Art. 20.2, part 8 - repeated offense. He will have to serve 10 days of arrest in a special detention center. The court ordered five women to pay a fine of 10 thousand rubles. In relation to one man, who was filming a lawyer not allowed to see the detainees, the trial was postponed until January 18.

“We will appeal the court ruling. First, not all of those who were tried went out onto the road. Natalia Sayapina, for example, did not go out, she is not on video filming and no one saw her on the roadway. Two of them - Alina Sinyukhina and Tatyana Musienko - had minor children who are not 14 years old; according to the law, they should have been released 3 hours after the arrest, but this did not happen. The court, in our opinion, violated the principle of comprehensiveness, did not take into account all the circumstances. These are not violent methods, they did not even block the road, they simply restricted traffic. Well, how else can people defend their rights? I think the appeal against the ruling in this case is lawful”, - said the lawyer of the victims, the representative of OVD-Info Vasily Kushnir.

We contacted the press service of the Dorogomilovsky court several times to find out what motives the court was guided by when making such a strange decision. They asked to assess the actions of the police and the conditions of detention of the detained activists in the pre-trial detention center. However, the court press secretary at the time of publication did not consider it necessary to communicate with journalists and answer questions. We hope, nevertheless, that the Dorogomilovsky court is familiar with the laws, and in accordance with them they will give an answer to the written request of "NO".

“The fact that the backup will be built, unfortunately, is already clear to everyone. By this court, the authorities could show that the question of its construction had been resolved. This is an act of intimidation of activists. 10 thousand is the minimum punishment, but keeping it contrary to the rules of women, mothers of minors, 48 hours ... What ways of dialogue with the authorities to use after what happened is not clear. Another question is how the backup project will be adjusted. Now we are talking about its reasonable adjustment. But the authorities make it clear that public opinion is nothing for them. By the way, the Chamber of Control and Accounts has a deputy's inquiry on the legality of spending 3 billion rubles allocated by the city for the construction of a backup. They have already been spent for today. How is an open question. The investigation will be carried out in 2021”, - said Andrey Larichev, a municipal deputy of the Fili-Davydkovo district, to NI.

...Meanwhile, piles of cut apple trees, which were bearing fruit six months ago, are covered with snow. On their dead branches, residents tie St. George's ribbons - as a sign of grief over the felled memory of the war.