Askhabali Alibekov

Askhabali (Askhab, Askhat) Alibekov, aka "Wild Paratrooper", a participant in the Second Chechen War, became known as a blogger in February 2018.
A year before, on 19 May 2017, the court sentenced Askhat Alibekov to three years of suspended imprisonment.
According to the verdict, on 1 February 2017, Petty Officer Askhabali Alibekov, being the commander of a branch of a military unit of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Crimea, angered by the fact that one of his subordinates, Sailor Ustimirov, was absent from his workplace, struck him in the face with his fist, breaking his lower jaw. The defendant pleaded guilty and compensated the victim for the damage.

On 10 February 2018, Askhabali (Askhab) Alibekov created a channel on YouTube and on 11 February 2018 posted a video in which he criticised the Russian President, accusing him of concealing data on the number of Russians killed in the conflict in Ukraine and called for a boycott of the elections. The video gained more than 700,000 views.

On 27 February 2018, the petty officer returned from leave to the military unit and learned he was dismissed from the Navy. On the same day, he posted two videos in which he cited his video criticising Vladimir Putin as the reason for his dismissal.

From 1 to 11 March, the blogger posted four more videos on YouTube accusing the Russian president and calling on him to leave his post. He also mentioned threats against himself and his relatives. By then, the videos had been viewed by about two million people on his Youtube channel alone.

On 14 March 2018, Alibekov was detained. The judge of the Primorsky district court of Novorossiysk Nikolai Semenov decided to bring him to responsibility under part 2 of article 20.1 of the Administrative Code and imposed a punishment of 10 days of arrest. "At 9 o'clock. 00 min. during the operation "Anaconda" attention was brought to Alibekov A. A., who loudly expressed profanity, did not respond to comments, to the demands of a police officer to stop his unlawful actions refused, provoking a conflict ... Alibekov A. A. ... did not admit guilt, explaining that he was returning home, he was attacked by people in civilian clothes, so he resisted, when he saw police officers in uniform, he stopped resisting and went with them," the court ruling says.

On 24 March 2018, Askhab Alibekov was allegedly detained again. The judge of the same court Mikhail Savin decided to bring him to responsibility under part 2 of article 20.1 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation and imposed a penalty in the form of a fine of one thousand rubles. From the court ruling: "According to the protocol on administrative offence of 24.03.2018 A. A. Alibekov on 24 March 2018 at 13 hours 30 minutes, being in a public place in the area of house number 56 on Kozlov Street, Novorossiysk, behaved aggressively, rudely expressed profanity, did not respond to the comments of police officers to stop unlawful actions, which rendered disobedience to the lawful demands of police officers. A.A. Alibekov explained at the court hearing that he had not committed any offence, he was serving a sentence of 10 days' arrest, three hours before the expiry of his sentence he was kidnapped by police officers, handcuffed, placed in a specialised vehicle and brought back to court".

On 6 April 2018, Alibekov was summoned to the local department of the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN), where he was asked to sign a covenant not to leave, as he had been convicted of two administrative offences during his probation period under the criminal sentence.

The video blogger then released several videos dedicated to the nationwide opposition rally "He is not our Tsar!" scheduled for 5 May 2018.

On 4 May 2018, Askhabali Alibekov was detained when he was travelling by bus to Krasnodar airport and a report was drawn up under part 2 of article 20.2 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation ("Violation of the procedure for organising a public event"). The Department for the Enforcement of Administrative Legislation of the Krasnodar Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs saw in his videos calls for "unauthorised rallies and protests". On the same day, the Pervomaisky District Court of Krasnodar found him guilty and sent him under arrest for nine days.

On 30 June 2018, Alibekov was again detained by police. On 1 July 2018, the judge of the Primorsky District Court of Novorossiysk, Natalia Musienko, decided to hold him liable under part 2 of article 20.1 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation and impose a penalty of a fine of one thousand rubles. "On 30 June 2018 at 10 h. 00 м. Alibekov A. A., being in a public place, in the premises of the police department of the Primorsky district of the UMVD of the Russian Federation for the city of Novorossiysk, expressed himself with coarse profanity, waved his hands, while not responding to repeated demands of police officers to stop illegal actions, thus violating public order. At the court hearing A.A. Alibekov did not admit guilt in committing an administrative offence, explained that the protocol on administrative offence drawn up in respect of him is a provocation", - reads the court ruling.

On 11 July 2018, Judge Savin satisfied the submission of the Criminal Executive Inspectorate of the Criminal Executive Inspectorate of the UFSIN in Krasnodar Krai to replace Alibekov's suspended sentence with three years of imprisonment. The court justified its decision by the fact that Alibekov during the probation period "throughout the year systematically violated public order, as he was brought to administrative responsibility three times, which is confirmed by the court acts that came into force, was repeatedly warned about the cancellation of probation, but did not make proper conclusions for himself".

In the colony, a criminal case was opened against Alibekov for disorganising the activities of the correctional facility and insulting a representative of the authorities. On 9 September 2020, he was sentenced to two years and two months in a strict regime colony. On 24 November, the appeal court cancelled the part of the sentence relating to the article on insulting a representative of the authorities and decided to sentence Alibekov to a year and two months in a strict regime colony.

He was released in March 2022.

On 9 September 2022, Alibekov was detained as part of a case of discrediting the Russian Armed Forces. The case was initiated because of the video clips. At first, it was reported that he signed a recognisance not to leave, later it was reported that the court chose to ban him from certain actions. On 29 September it became known that Alibekov was taken into custody after he refused to wear an electronic bracelet to track his movements. Alibekov pleaded guilty and asked for a special procedure, but the court refused.

In July, the blogger was fined 50,000 rubles under an administrative article on discrediting the army (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) because of a video from a solitary picket in the town square. "Kavkaz.Realii" wrote that Alibekov was fined under this article twice, the Investigative Committee also indicated in a public statement that he was brought to administrative responsibility in March.

On 23 March 2023, Alibekov was sentenced to a year and two months in a strict regime colony. In late April, Alibekov told his wife that he had been beaten by the detention centre staff. On 10 November 2023, he was released. On 2 April 2024, the court of cassation instance cancelled the verdict and sent the case for a new consideration. On 23 January 2025, the court of first instance dismissed the case due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.

On the night of 20 February 2024, Alibekov was taken off a train in Kazan, where he was travelling to become an election observer. According to him, he was beaten and injected with something similar to a syringe in his back, after which he became dizzy. Alibekov was charged with disobedience to the lawful demand of a police officer (Article 19.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) and arrested for 15 days. On 1 March it became known that Alibekov was prosecuted for the use of violence against a representative of authority (part 1 of article 318 of the Criminal Code). On 9 October 2024, he was sentenced to two years and four months in a strict regime colony.

On 29 November 2024, the court of appeal reduced the sentence by four months.

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