On the morning of June 28, 2022, law enforcement officers detained Dmitry Talantov and took him in for questioning at an Investigative Committee office. His home and office were searched. Literally two hours after he was detained, Mr. Talantov was charged with “dissemination of false information about the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation motivated by hatred” (article 207.3, part 2, sub-paragraph d). The criminal case against the defence attorney was launched by Moscow investigators. Mr. Talantov was transported under guard to Moscow and arrested by the court until August 21, 2022.

The criminal case was launched on the basis of a Facebook** post published back in April. Journalists believe that Mr. Talantov was informed on by blogger Roman Skomorokhov: He made a screenshot of the post and sent it to the Office of the Attorney General and the Federal Security Service Office for the Udmurt Republic. Mr. Talantov’s place has already been searched before – in April of 2022, and the law enforcement authorities have made two attempts to charge him with an administrative offence for anti-war posts “discrediting the Russian Army” (article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code).

Dmitry Talantov is a well-known Izhevsk defence attorney; he is one of the attorneys of Ivan Safronov, who has been charged with treason. Mr. Talantov was detained on the eve of his flight to Moscow, where he was going on business. The lawyer’s arrest has weakened Mr. Safronov’s defence. The health of the 61-year-old human rights activist is also a cause for concern: On June 29 he became unwell in court.

Dmitry’s colleagues are preparing to defend him as well as to write a collective appeal to the United Nations Human Rights Committee. The appeal to the Investigative Committee in support of Dmitry has been signed by over 500 defence attorneys and lawyers. You can also support Mr. Talantov by writing him a letter to the temporary holding facility where he will be spending the first 10 days after being detained.

"Memorial"* recognized Dmitry as a political prisoner.