24 Aug 2022 09:26

Former Yekaterinburg Mayor Roizman detained - assistant

YEKATERINBURG. Aug 24 (Interfax) - Former Yekaterinburg Mayor Yevgeny Roizman has been detained, and searches are underway, Roizman's assistant Leila Guseinova told Interfax.

"He [Roizman] has actually been detained. As I understand, searches are being conducted at the Nevyansk Icon Museum. They have called us and asked for opening the office of the [Roizman] Foundation, as they want to search the Foundation, too," Guseinova said.

She said she did not know what Roizman had been detained for.

Meanwhile, regional police spokesman Valery Gorelykh told Interfax he would check the information about the detention of the politician.

In spring, the Oktyabrsky District Court in Yekaterinburg imposed three 50,000-ruble fines on Roizman under Part 1, Article 20.3.3 of the Russian Code of Administrative Offenses (public actions aimed at discrediting actions of the Russian Armed Forces) following his post and a link published on a social network, and a video in a popular service.

The defense appealed the ruling, yet the Yekaterinburg Region Court found all the fines lawful.

On May 25, the same court fined Roizman 85,000 rubles under Part 3, Article 20.1 of the Russian Code of Administrative Offenses (online publishing of information that offends human dignity and public morality, obvious disrespect for society, the state or bodies exercising state power in the Russian Federation). The counts were based on a question Roizman asked on social media in his comments on a statement by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The defense filed an appeal, but the Sverdlovsk Region Court upheld the ruling of the lower-tier court.

The former mayor pleaded not guilty in all cases.