Complete absurdity! – lawyer on the arrest of the head of the largest IT company in the Russian Federation

The lawyer for Sergei Shilov, the arrested head of Russia's largest IT company, has stated that the investigation's actions were illegal and the court's verdict was unfounded.

This was reported by Arguments of the Week.

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The IT specialist’s defense attorney, Sergei Starovoitov, draws attention to the inconsistency of dates in the case materials. During the interrogation on February 21, his client was not asked a single question regarding the essence of the charges brought against him, and the search carried out in Shilov’s house on February 27, during which the businessman was forcibly brought to the Investigative Committee while still in the status of a witness, was carried out according to a court order dated February 20.

“It is obvious that there was a violation of legal requirements during the detention of Sergei Shilov - he was detained during a search and, without any documents, was taken to the Investigative Committee at night, while being in the status of a witness. During the interrogation on February 21, there was not a single question on the points on the basis of which the investigation brought charges,” Starovoitov said.

The lawyer also notes that the investigation requested a too harsh measure of restraint for the businessman - detention, which is usually required for murderers and rapists.

In addition, the absurdity of the situation lies in the term of imprisonment required by the prosecution: “Aiding and abetting an official in exceeding his powers with the aim of promoting the latter in his career, for which Sergei Shilov is accused, cannot imply a maximum punishment of 10 years, announced by the investigation.” .

It is noteworthy that both the Supreme Court and business ombudsmen recommend being extremely careful when choosing a preventive measure in cases related to economic and business activities. However, the investigation considered that Shilov’s presence of a foreign passport is a good reason to suspect him of fleeing the country.

“During the investigation, Sergei Shilov repeatedly left the country and, most importantly, returned back, as can be seen from the marks in his passport. This indicates that he did not intend to hide... The presence of a foreign passport is not, according to the law, evidence of criminal intentions. Thus, the investigation’s request for 2 months in a pre-trial detention center is rather an attempt at moral and psychological pressure,” Starovoitov emphasizes.

Let us remind you that Sergei Shilov was a witness in a criminal case brought against the acting head of the Federal Public Institution NPO "STiS" of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia Andrei Nechaev. In October 2017, Nechaev was arrested after investigative authorities discovered shortcomings in the operation of the system, which was put into operation three years ago and developed by Shilov’s company. Back on February 13, the businessman was a witness in this case, on the 21st he gave evidence, and on the 27th a criminal case was opened against him. Shilov’s arrest coincided with the presidential message, which spoke of the need to develop the digital sphere in Russia, and once again called on the security forces to stop “nightmare” business.

Shilov’s colleagues in the field of information technology are perplexed as to how such actions relate to calls for digitalization of the country, and why the punishment of businessmen for economic crimes is similar to the punishment of murderers and robbers. According to experts, this will once again force businesses to think about whether it is worth participating in such projects.