Alexei Moskalev, sentenced to two years for discrediting the Russian army, who escaped house arrest on the eve of the verdict and was detained in Minsk on March 30, could still be in Belarus. Such an assumption in a conversation with The Eastern Herald was made by his lawyer Vladimir Bilienko after visiting the Tula SIZO-1, where the convict should be taken.
On April 4, the human rights project OVD-Info* reported that at present it is not known where Aleksey Moskalev is in Minsk after his arrest. According to lawyer Dmitry Zakhvatov, who remained in contact with Moskalev, on March 30 the man was “removed, taken in an unknown direction”, almost a week has passed since then, but he does not there is no news of him.
“Since I was a little tired of the darkness, today I decided to go to SIZO-1 in Tula in order to find out if he had been brought there. And in case he is brought, try to meet him. I arrived at the remand center in Tula, where they explained to me that they had not brought him,” Bilienko said.
According to him, since the sentence against Moskalev has already been pronounced, he should no longer be registered with the regional branch of the investigative commission or the court, but with the Federal Penitentiary Service. This means that once the convict is brought to Russia, he will end up in the remand center in Tula. As the lawyer suggested, the reason Moskalev is still not in Russia could be “interstate bureaucracy.”
“He was detained in another state. Interstate actions – the transfer, the signing of certain documents, the bureaucracy itself takes some time, the interstate takes more time. I do not exclude that it is not yet in Russia. He may still be in Belarus,” Bilienko said.
About the Parental Restrictions Court
On April 6, the Ephraim Interdistrict Court is to hold a closed session with the participation of both parents of the girl, during which the issue of limiting their parental rights in relation to the child will be considered.
As explained by the children’s ombudsman, this procedure is not related to the case of Aleksey Moskalev for “discrediting” the army, but was initiated by the fact that the family has been registered since May 2022 as being in a “socially dangerous situation”.
“Tomorrow in court in a civil case, on the restriction of rights (to represent Moskalev), well-known Moscow lawyer Ekaterina Gordon and I will be,” Bilienko said.
Moskalev himself, he added, is unlikely to attend the meeting, even via videoconference. As the lawyer explained, this is possible if a person is in a remand center. Then, at the request of one of the parties, the court can arrange communication with the detention center. However, in the current situation, the defense cannot submit a request, because the exact whereabouts of the person are not known.
Vladimir Bilenko, referring to the possibility of restricting the parental rights of his client, said that, in accordance with the Family Code, the court today has no reason to make a decision unfavorable to Alexei.
“Article 73 of the Family Code sets out precisely and clearly the grounds for which a person may be limited in his parental rights with regard to his child: that is to say if the residence of the child with a relative or relatives threatens his life and health. The criminal responsibility of Aleksey Vladimirovich and his previous administrative responsibility are not, in accordance with the Family Code, grounds for restricting parental rights, ”the lawyer believes.
According to him, taking into account the published letter of Moskalev’s daughter to her father, it is completely absurd to consider that living “this girl with this father entails some kind of danger”.
On the other hand, the fact that a man has escaped house arrest can affect the court’s decision. However, even in this case, the court will simply register a fait accompli, Biliyenko believes.
“In the criminal case (escape), the situation does not worsen, since the verdict has already been given. Regarding this civil case, on the restriction of parental rights: if a conviction is pronounced against him, then in fact the restriction of parental rights has already taken place, since the child has already been taken from him, he cannot live with him. child , and it makes no sense to issue some kind of court decision on the absence of restriction of parental rights – it will be a simple duplication of the fact, ”he explained.
Moskalev’s defense team is now waiting for the court to provide them with a full copy of the verdict in order to appeal. As the lawyer said, when announcing the verdict in the Efremov Interdistrict Court, only the “introductory and operative parts” were read, and “the descriptive and motivational parts themselves have not been announced”.
“I don’t know what arguments the court was guided by. To write a detailed appeal, you need to get that verdict into your hands. But if within 15 days, as required by law for filing an appeal, this sentence does not come to me, then I will send a short appeal to start the appeal process,” Bilienko said.
The lawyer expressed the hope that by the time the appeal was considered by the Tula Regional Court, he would have already received the text of the verdict and would be able to prepare for the hearing. The lawyer also noted that the appeal must be considered without fail with the participation of Moskalev.
On the evening of April 5, on the eve of the consideration of the case of restriction of parental rights of Alexei Moskalev, the Children’s Ombudsman of Lvov-Belova reported that her daughter was returned to her mother. “At first, Masha did not want to see her mother, and her opinion must be taken into account by law. Now her position has changed – she herself told me on the phone, ”she says.
Meanwhile, on April 4, Lvova-Belova said they were going to find a “replacement family” for the schoolgirl, as her mother was not going to take her away from the social rehabilitation center. At the same time, the children’s ombudsman promised to ensure that the girl does not stay in a social institution.
In April 2022, Moskalev’s daughter, whom he is raising alone, drew an anti-war cartoon during a school art class. Then law enforcement became interested in the social networks of the girl’s father, they wrote an administrative protocol on the “discrediting” of the army because of comments to Odnoklassniki and fined him 32 000 rubles. In December 2022, a criminal case was opened against Moskalev for “discrediting” Russian troops: searches were carried out in his apartment, and his daughter was taken to a social institution. The day after the interrogation, he took the girl from the shelter and left Efremov, but on March 1, 2023, Moskalev was arrested in the Tula region. On March 2, the court placed him under house arrest. The man’s daughter was again placed in a social rehabilitation center and refused to be released, despite the fact that Moskalev was placed under house arrest.
