Before the events that took place on Bolotnaya Square, the name of Leonid Razvozzhaev was familiar to few. But the wave of protests and riots that swept the capital of Russia in 2011-2012, turned everything upside down. From an ordinary public figure, Leonid Razvozzhaev turned into a political criminal, plotting a coup.
However, how true are the charges brought against him? Could Razvozzhaev be involved in the outbreak of conflict in Bolotnaya Square? And what is generally known about this man?
Razvozzhaev Leonid: biography of early years
The future public figure was born on June 12, 1973. It happened in Angarsk, in the Irkutsk region. His first training began at school number 4. Of the variety of subjects, physical education has always been favorite. It is not for nothing that at a young age Leonid Razvozzhaev was a member of the Angarsk boxing section and even performed at local competitions.
At the end of the school, he entered vocational school in order to get the specialty “gas electric welder”. But instead of starting to improve in his profession, he decided to open his own business. In addition, in 1993 he began to look for jobs in the newspaper Nezavisimoye Obozreniye.
In 1997, he was interrogated as a witness in a robbery case. So, 500 hats made of pure fur were stolen from a certain Vyacheslav Skudenkov, which at that time cost a considerable fortune. It would seem that there is something special? But after 15 years, this case will be reopened, and the main suspect in it will be Leonid Razvozzhaev.
In 1998, he joined the opposition left movement. This moment is considered to be a turning point in the fate of the future activist. After all, if he had done otherwise, perhaps his fate would have been completely different.
Moving to Moscow
In 2003, Leonid Razvozzhaev decides to move to Moscow. Initially, he got a job as a driver with a deputy of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Ilya Ponomarev. But soon the position of a simple driver bothered him, and Leonid began to try himself in politics.
The first significant victory was the entry into the apparatus of the Rodina party. According to official documents, he worked there from 2005 to 2007. Along the way, Leonid Razvozzhaev continued to work on promoting the influence of the Left Front. In particular, in 2004 he became one of the founding fathers of the Youth Left Front movement.
In 2011, Razvozzhaev became chairman of the Trade Union of Trade and Services Workers. And in October 2012 he made his way to the Council of the Leftist Course. Alas, this was his last victory, after which a series of bitter defeats followed.
The story of a betrayal
At the beginning of October 2012, the Russian television channel NTV released a film called Anatomy of Protest - 2. This picture revealed a secret conspiracy, woven in order to raise a wave of unrest in the capital of Russia. In support of this theory, the authors of the tape offered undeniable evidence - a video of the very meeting at which the fate of the country was decided.
The main characters were Givi Targamadze, Mikhail Iashvili, Leonid Razvozzhaev and Sergey Udaltsov. All of them attended a secret meeting, which took place in Minsk, in the second half of June 2012.
After the publication of the material, the Directorate of the Investigative Committee indicted the participants in this meeting. And although not everyone believed in the veracity of this film, the police still received an order to arrest Leonid Razvozzhaev.
Flight to Ukraine
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs reports, Razvozzhaev was put on the federal wanted list on October 19, 2012. However, the activist envisioned such a turn of events and fled to Ukraine. But at an opposition rally in the Russian capital on October 20, people were told that the fugitive had been caught.
So, according to the version of the left forces, Leonid Razvozhzhaev was captured by masked unknowns when he approached the office of the UN High Commissioner in Kiev. And only a day later he was taken to Moscow, where he was illegally charged. According to information provided by Ilya Ponomarev, Leonid was convicted the same evening in the Basmanny court, depriving him of the right to a lawyer.
However, soon the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs provided other information. They assured that Leonid returned to Russia of his own free will, which is confirmed by the testimony of Ukrainian customs officers. Then he came to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and wrote a confession.
Law enforcement pressure statement
Soon after the detention of Leonid Razvozzhaev, information appeared on the network that he had been tortured. It was only because of this that he pleaded guilty and now demands a retrial. However, on October 22, Anton Tsvetkov visited the prisoner and, according to him, he found no signs of torture. A similar statement was made by representatives of medicine. According to their examination, there are simply no injuries and abrasions on the body of Razvozzhaev.
Nevertheless, rumors of torture and abuse of the activist appeared on the network every now and then. But at the same time, there was not a single official complaint from Razvozzzhaev about illegal actions of law enforcement agencies.
Sentence
In July 2014, a Moscow court sentenced Leonid Razvozhzhaev to 4.5 years in prison. Also, a pecuniary penalty of 150 thousand Russian rubles was imposed on him. Re-examination of the case or parole is not currently forecast.
