The harsh decision was made despite the medical documents presented by the lawyer confirming Vika’s mental health. The process was immediately postponed for a month and a half. But even this time does not give the defense of the defendant a chance to better prepare for the trial. The accusation brought against Petrova is so inaccurate that it is still not clear: from what exactly is it necessary to protect her?
Novaya Gazeta reported that Victoria Petrova, a graduate of the Graduate School of Management at St. Petersburg State University, who worked as a project manager in a St. Petersburg private firm before her arrest, was arrested and sent to a pre-trial detention center in May last year. Shortly before that, in March and April 2022, the girl shared on social networks videos of journalists Dmitry Gordon* and Alexander Nevzorov*, politician Maxim Katz*, former adviser to the head of the office of the President of Ukraine Oleksiy Arestovich* and the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky himself, the statements of Dr. Komarovsky as well as a few photographs.
All these posts, according to the investigation, fall under the new legislative norms on the dissemination of “fake” about the Russian army.
Petrova was charged with the same clause “d” of Part 2 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Public dissemination under the guise of reliable reports of knowingly false information about the use of the RF Armed Forces”) as another St. Petersburg defendant Alexandra Skochilenko, emphasizing that the crime was committed “based on political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred or enmity, or motivated by hatred or enmity against any social group.” Both girls face up to 10 years in prison.
On May 25, in the Kalininsky District Court of St. Petersburg, Victoria Petrova’s lawyer Anastasia Pilipenko presented her opinion on the new version of the prosecution, announced at the last meeting on May 18. The prosecutor’s office excluded from it the motive of incitement of hostility against a social group, but left the incitement of hostility motivated by political hatred. In addition, the new version of the indictment does not contain some of the social media posts previously imputed to Vika.
According to the prosecutor’s office, by means of the messages remaining in the prosecution (for example, the statements of Dr. Komarovsky and others), Victoria disseminated unreliable information, knowing that it was false, since it contradicted data from official sources.
According to the lawyer of the defendant Anastasia Pilipenko,
the prosecution, clarifying its position, in fact, turned around 180 degrees. Initially, Petrova was accused of as if by her posts she refutes the fact that the actions of the Russian army are aimed at maintaining peace. And from the new version of the prosecution it follows that Victoria spread information about the use of the RF Armed Forces to maintain peace.
Viktoria Petrova’s lawyer Anastasia Pilipenko. Photo: Alexey Dushutin / Novaya Gazeta
“In fact, the prosecution is blocking our ability to defend ourselves,” Anastasia Pilipenko said in court. – Since it is still not clear what specific statements are imputed to Vika under Art. 207.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation? Which information from her posts is false? How can this falsehood be proven? What exactly did my client do? Was she disseminating information about the military or government agencies? Then about what government agencies? Should we review footage from Ukraine in court and establish the accuracy of the information disseminated by my client? Like us (protection. — N. P.) can we do it? How does the prosecution intend to confirm this?
The lawyer’s questions remained unanswered. The public prosecutor did not make any statements at the meeting.
At the end of March, an assistant to the district prosecutor presented in court a certain “document of a medical nature” (as he himself put it), which Judge Gennady Pilekhin called “A4 sheet”, but nevertheless attached to the case file. On the basis of this paper, the prosecution asked that Petrova be sent for a psychiatric examination and that the trial in the Kalininsky District Court be closed to listeners and the press.
Vika was scheduled for an outpatient psychiatric examination in April. But according to its results, the experts could not draw a conclusion and demanded additional documents on the state of health of the accused. On May 25, the lawyer presented the court with medical certificates confirming Victoria’s absolute mental health.
– We believed that with these documents it would still be possible to re-conduct an outpatient psychiatric examination without placing Vika in a hospital. However, the prosecutor petitioned for an inpatient psychiatric examination, and the court granted this petition,” Anastasia Pilipenko commented to Novaya Gazeta.
In the near future
Petrova will be transferred from the pre-trial detention center to a special medical hospital (psychiatric hospital) for about three weeks, where doctors will once again evaluate her mental health. Stationary examination, including the preparation of a conclusion by physicians, can last more than a month.
For this reason, the next court hearing in the case of Vika Petrova is scheduled for July 7.
Saint Petersburg
* Recognized as “foreign agents” in the Russian Federation.
