Elista City Court fines activist Erdnieva for solo picket

The Elista City Court has ruled to fine Valentina Erdnieva, an activist of the Congress of the Oirat-Kalmyk People, by 20,000 roubles for her solo pickets in the city centre.

On April 16, Erdnieva held a picket with a poster reading: "Kalmykia's Central Electoral Commission (CEC) is aliens' territory"; on August 3, she turned to Bat Khasikov, the head of Kalmykia, with a question about the date of the live broadcast with a report on the 2020 budget. And on August 4, she publicly asked Khasikov and Yuri Zaitsev, the Prime Minister of Kalmykia, about the construction of the promised new infectious disease hospital for 200 beds.

On October 22, the Elista City Court imposed fines on Erdnieva for her two pickets held in August – by 10,000 roubles for each.

The court judgement will be challenged in the appellate order, Valentina Erdnieva said on October 29 after the judgement was announced. "This is the third fine. The court believes that I have to pay 30,000 roubles for three pickets. Of course, we do not agree with the ruling and will appeal against it at the Supreme Court (SC) of Kalmykia. The whole fight is ahead," Ms Erdnieva told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on October 29, 2021 at 11:57 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.