“This is revenge for what we annoyed the authorities during the elections.” Volgograd activist Kochegin on the criminal case initiated against him

My military service was replaced with an alternative civilian service. As I understand it, this happened due to the fact that I pissed off the military commissar. And so, a surgeon from the commission, which gives an opinion on fitness for military service, told me that after each of my visits, he reported to the chief, and the chief, to the FSB and the prosecutor’s office. He talked about what I had come, what had been done so that I could be sent somewhere as soon as possible and that I would not be involved in politics in the region. Such a direct recognition was given to me.

The procedure for the medical examination from the very beginning was simply disgusting. She was forced as much as possible. My examination began without tests: they were not ready yet, and the doctors were already writing their conclusions. We complained about this, of course. It is worth noting that I already have a huge stack of letters from the military prosecutor’s office regarding violations by the military registration and enlistment office, where I am writing complaints. 90% of my complaints are admitted by them, there is even one answer where the military commissar was reprimanded.

At the state hospital, I received a conclusion, according to which I was supposed to be released from service. The military commissar, instead of offering to attach this to my personal file and make an appropriate decision, wrote a request to check the doctor of this hospital, whether he gave me a false conclusion. After I was sent to a higher regional hospital to double-check what had already been written. Everything was forced there, and I “became” absolutely healthy.

Then the courts began. They are still going on – a cassation is scheduled for November 24. It turns out that the Investigative Committee, without waiting for the trial, declares me a criminal.

You might think that while the courts are going on, I should serve, but no. I shouldn’t have until the appeal ruling came into force, and when this happened, I sent a request to the military commissar and to the hospital where they wanted to send me, because this institution is located in another city. In order for me to go there to serve, in accordance with article 20 of the law “On alternative civilian service,” I must be provided with a hostel, travel, must draw up documents. Until now, none of this has been done.

I wrote a formal request that they must fulfill their obligations under the law. Together with a lawyer, we demanded to comply with the law and properly draw up all the documents. This has not been done, there is no answer on this matter. I am not going to rake at my own expense what they are obliged to do, so I sent the corresponding complaints to the military prosecutor’s office. The reaction has already come from the Investigative Committee. They, apparently, believe that I am evading my duties, and not that I should be provided with conditions for travel, accommodation, that the court, which in principle can cancel everything, should pass on the 24th.

The courts only admit nothing, did not even pay attention when I showed them that the original of one of the tests differs from the copy that the military registration and enlistment office submitted to the court (they provided an analysis retroactively to confirm the alleged compliance with the procedure). And the conscription documents were drawn up without me, although, according to the law, the decision of the conscription commission is made only in the presence of the conscript. It turns out that I was not given the right to say something in my defense during the regional commission, since they held it without me, breaking the law.

There is no composition of evasion in my actions, I only a) demand to follow the procedure according to the law, b) demand to eliminate contradictions in documents and medical reports. But I am denied the exercise of these rights. The regional court refused to eliminate contradictions in the medical documents when I demanded a forensic medical examination. If their decision was legal, they would not be afraid of an examination and would have followed the entire procedure from the very beginning, but the appeal is politically motivated.

The trigger for the initiation of the case, in my opinion, was the fact that after the defeat of the headquarters of Alexei Navalny, I was one of the few people who decided to independently continue to engage in politics in the region.

I set a goal for myself to train observers and show the whole region and – if possible – the country how our elections are held, and we did it very well. We sent hundreds of observers who recorded violations. Now we are in litigation with election commissions. In the history of the Volgograd region, no one has ever done such a large-scale observation before us.

Now we see that after the elections, the initiation of criminal cases against political activists and regional politicians has intensified. Probably, before the elections, they could not do it. Maybe they thought that the costs would be high. And after the elections, in principle, they are no longer afraid of anything. The movement that I organized quite seriously annoyed the regional authorities, so I believe that the initiation of a criminal case is a common revenge.