Moskvich received a real time for resale "spy" keychain with built-in camera

In the Basmanny District Court of Moscow today, the last hearing took place in the case of the biker Alexei Sokolov, who was accused of reselling a spy device disguised as a key fob. This action is governed by art. 138.1 of the Criminal Code "Illegal circulation of special technical equipment intended for secretly obtaining information" and provides for a penalty of 200 thousand rubles, or restriction or imprisonment for up to four years.

The court’s decision was to be announced today at 12:00 am Moscow time. There is still no information on the outcome of the consideration of the case on the website of the Basmanny District Court, but it is known that the man was sentenced to four months in prison.

The incident is that the “spy” keychain was bought by Sokolov on Aliexpress for personal use as a cheap mini-registrar, which the biker planned to mount on the helmet or on the steering wheel of a motorcycle. It is an obvious choice for a married man who has three children and is looking for an alternative to costly tools like GoPro. According to the wife of Sokolov, the quality of the video did not suit her husband and the keychain went to the box. In December 2015, with the money in the family, it became difficult and Aleksey decided to sell the “toy” on Avito for 1,500 rubles in order to help out at least something. The first buyers of the keychain were operatives.
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Now Alexey Sokolov received a real time for a Chinese key chain with a built-in camera that he freely brought into the country. In this case, the defendant has excellent characteristics from relatives, colleagues, friends and acquaintances. Together with his biker club, Sokolov visited orphanages, collected toys and sponsored the Solnyshko orphanage in Troitsk near Moscow, providing all possible assistance to the institution.

Interlocutor of the Kommersant publication, head of the Agora international human rights group, Pavel Chikov , commented on the Sokolov trial:

According to my feelings, the number of sentences under Art. 138.1 grows, the method of accountability is worked out. The courts stamp sentences, but, as a rule, the punishment is not related to deprivation of liberty, as this is not a serious crime. People, as a rule, order such “spy” equipment via the Internet, and at the post office they are met by FSB officers, then an examination is carried out, the confiscated equipment is recognized as spyware - and that's all, the court.

The wife of Alexei, even at past meetings, feared that her husband would be sentenced to a real term. Previously, due to health reasons (aggravation of intervertebral hernia), he ended up in the hospital and could not report to the investigator this summer. The last message that was sent by fax was ignored and put Sokolov on the wanted list. In August, the biker was detained in the courthouse, where he himself came to complain about the actions of the investigation. Since then, he has been in jail.

The situation is complicated by the fact that law enforcement agencies and the FSB do not in any way impede the importation of “spyware” equipment, tracking post-factum buyers and bringing those to justice according to Article 138 relatively recently introduced in the Criminal Code (introduced by Federal Law of 07.12.2011 N 420-FZ). In this case, the only criterion for getting under this article is the production, purchase or sale of technical devices intended for secretly obtaining information. At the same time, the Federal Law does not take into account that such devices are freely available in online stores and are delivered by mail without any problems.