A plumber versus the police. An Ulyanovsk resident has been in court for two years against the regional police department. He's trying to prove he's not a hooligan.
50-year-old Александр Смирнов Smirnov works as a plumber at the Ulyanovsk Institute of Civil Aviation. Two years ago, he found an abandoned electrical box with exposed wires, deemed it dangerous, and called the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the police. The box turned out to be just that, a box, and the plumber was convicted. Smirnov is trying to prove his innocence.
At his latest court hearing, Smirnov demanded that the police officers' actions during his arrest and detention be recognized as unlawful and that he be paid 500,000 rubles in compensation. Since his criminal record, Smirnov has been unable to find a job with a salary of 50,000-60,000 rubles and is forced to continue working at the institute for 22,000 rubles. He multiplied the lost wages by the past months to arrive at half a million rubles, which he wants to recover from the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Smirnov had previously attempted to challenge the offense itself and his criminal record, but to no avail: the Supreme Court did not overturn the lower court's decision.
On June 14, 2022, in one of the buildings of the institute, a cadet сообщил Smirnov was told there was a box with wires sticking out of it in the hallway. The plumber acted decisively: he called the appropriate authorities, carried the box out to the balcony, made sure no one was downstairs, and threw it out for safety. After the box failed to explode, he went downstairs and threw it in the trash. The emergency services personnel confirmed the item was safe and left.
The police took Smirnov for a medical examination, held him at the station for two days, and then convicted him under Part 2 of Article 207 of the Russian Criminal Code ("Knowingly making a false report of an act of terrorism"). He allegedly committed the crime out of hooligan motives. He was sentenced to 320 hours of community service, which he managed to reduce through the courts to 300.
This time, police representatives stated in court that they did not understand the essence of the claim: "We ask you to explain specifically what is the fault of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs Directorate for the Ulyanovsk Region?".
Photo: Ulpravda.ru