In Rostov-on-Don, the trial of Dmitry Novikov, a scandalous judge resigned, was completed: he was found guilty of abuse of power and making unjust decisions, but was released from punishment for non-rehabilitating reasons - due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. The criminal prosecution of the ex-judge began in 2010, during which time Mr. Novikov spent more than six months in the remand center, succeeded in stopping several episodes of the case and launched a loud public campaign in his defense and exposing former colleagues.

According to "Kommersant", the announcement of Dmitry Novikov's verdict in the Rostov regional court took more than five hours. Judge Tatiana Kolesnikova found the retired judge guilty of committing crimes under Part 2 of Art. 285 of the Criminal Code (abuse of power), Part 3 of Art. 294 of the Criminal Code (obstruction of justice), as well as part 1 of Art. 305 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (the issuance of deliberately unjust judicial acts by a judge). For these episodes, he was assigned three years and the year of imprisonment, respectively, with the prohibition to occupy posts in the civil service for two years after the imprisonment.

However, according to the representative of the court, the punishment for the entirety of Mr. Novikov was not appointed, since Judge Kolesnikov decided to release him from punishment in connection with the expiry of the limitation period for criminal prosecution. The last episodes of the case date back to 2003, when Dmitry Novikov was the judge of the Khosta court of Sochi.

According to the prosecution, Judge Novikov made an unjustified decision in the civil case, on the basis of which two of his trustees purchased land in the village of Esto-Sadok, Adler district, the plots were then sold to SC Olimpstroy. In addition, there is an episode in the case about the allocation of a plot of land on the territory of the Pravda sanatorium to a private person, as well as about the fate of the residential facility of the Svetlana Housing Committee (judge Novikov considered the case of recognition of the building as unauthorized).

The case against Dmitry Novikov was heard in the regional court in Rostov-on-Don for more than two years - on the transfer of the hearing to another region in 2016 the defendant himself insisted, who declared his conflict with the judiciary community of the Krasnodar Territory. In October last year, Judge Tatyana Kolesnikova removed Dmitry Novikov from the hearing room after numerous comments. In turn, Mr. Novikov in his numerous video messages posted in social networks, called on the public to protect him from unfair accusations, and at the same time from former colleagues, whose abuse he allegedly revealed.

Now Dmitry Novikov is preparing an appeal to the Supreme Court. According to him, he has not yet seen the text of the verdict, therefore he can not speak on the merits, but he intends to seek justification. Moreover, Mr. Novikov is going to participate in the contest for the post of chairman of the Krasnodar Regional Court, announced by the Supreme Qualification Board of Judges (the deadline for applications is July 16).

As Kommersant wrote earlier, Dmitry Novikov was arrested in April 2010 and held in jail for several months on suspicion of fraud. At the same time, the qualification college of the judges of the region has terminated the authority of Judge Novikov since 2006 in connection with the commission of a disciplinary offense, but in 2011 the disciplinary judicial presence on Mr. Novikov's appeal canceled the decision of the qualification board, returning him the status of a judge. As a result, the criminal case under Part 4 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code (fraud in a particularly large amount) was terminated, as the investigation violated the procedure for bringing to justice a special subject - the retired judge.