A former defendant in the “Moscow Case” has been arrested in absentia under the article on military “fakes.”

The Zamoskvoretsky District Court in Moscow has, in absentia, arrested Vladislav Barabanov, a former defendant in the “Moscow Case,” over a case concerning “fakes” about the military, allegedly committed out of political hatred (paragraph “d” part 2 article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). OVD-Info drew attention to this development.

The criminal case against Barabanov became public knowledge in January 2024. The prosecution was triggered by five posts about the war in Ukraine published by the activist in their Telegram channel in March 2022. The case was initiated back on 21 April 2023; in July, the preliminary investigation was suspended, as Barabanov had gone into hiding and was declared wanted by the authorities.

In 2019, Barabanov spent one month in pre-trial detention over the “Moscow Case,” which had been launched after protests against the exclusion of independent candidates from the Moscow City Duma elections. Eventually, the Investigative Committee closed the case against the activist due to a lack of evidence of a crime.