Benyash's case on discrediting army postponed due to judge's self-withdrawal

The court session on the administrative case on discrediting the Russian Army opened against Mikhail Benyash, a Krasnodar lawyer did not take place. The judge has self-withdrawn because he is running another case against the lawyer.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that policemen had drawn up a protocol under the article on discrediting the Russian Armed Forces against Mikhail Benyash, who took part in the filming of a pacifist video clip. On April 27, the Leninsky District Court of Krasnodar, due to the lack of corpus delicti, terminated the administrative case against Mikhail Benyash under the article on discrediting Russian militaries. Mr Benyash himself has explained that the judgement was based on the violations committed during drawing up the protocol and holding an expertise.

On July 18, the above Krasnodar court was to re-consider the administrative case against Mikhail Benyash for discrediting the Russian Army. Although earlier the court had found him innocent under this article, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) challenged the ruling in an appeal instance that sent the case for re-consideration, the "Kavkaz.Realii"* outlet has reported.

However, the session failed, as Judge Zalesny self-withdrew due to the fact that he has another case against Benyash in the process of consideration, the lawyer has explained on his Telegram channel.

*The outlet has been included by the Russian Ministry of Justice into the register of foreign media outlets acting as foreign agents.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 18, 2022 at 09:07 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.