The appeal in Lev Schlossberg's case continues. A politician speaks in a debate.
Today at 9:30 the Pskov Regional Court will continue to discuss the appeals of Deputy Chairman Yabloko Lev Schlossberg and his lawyers against the politician's verdict in the joint case. The meeting will be the fifth in a row and will begin with Schlossberg's speech in a debate between the parties.
The discussion began yesterday, November 11. Lev Schlossberg again participated in the meeting via video conference (VCC) from the pre-trial detention center. He asked the court to adjourn the hearing to November 17 and give him two days to prepare. The court allocated 70 minutes for the meeting with the lawyer. The politician then said that he had to speak in the debate, because he basically had no choice:
"I find it impossible to refuse to speak in a debate. I will use the documents and materials previously prepared by the defenders."
In total, Schlossberg spoke for more than 3.5 hours, but did not have time to say everything he wanted: at 21:30 the presiding judge Dmitry Ustinov stopped him and announced a break.
The main part of Lev Schlossberg's speech concerned the violation of his right to defense.
"It was an open and demonstrative mockery," is what Lev Schlossberg called the trial in the lower court.
Let us recall that on August 17, 2026, Judge Victoria Maliamova of the Pskov city court sentenced Lev Schlossberg to 11 years and one month in a general prison colony for participating in public hearings and republishing. Three defense attorneys filed complaints against the verdict: Vladimir Danilov, Vera Kovalchuk and Leila Abdullah. The defense cited a total of more than 20 reasons for canceling the politician's sentence.
The chronology of the appeal process is described here:
First meeting - October 29;
Monday meeting - November 6;.
Third meeting - November 10;
Wednesday meeting - November 11.
Appeals are considered by the Criminal Committee of the Regional Court in Pskov, which consists of the heads of Dmitry Ustinov, judges Eduard Makarov and Kirill Velikov.