Lercek asked Putin for a pardon. What is known about her case and treatment

Blogger Valeria Chekalina, known as Lerchek, appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin with a request for clemency. This was announced to Izvestia on November 12 by her lawyer Konstantin Tretyakov. The petition became known a week after the Moscow City Court upheld Chekalina's five-year suspended sentence in the case of money transfer to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The defense filed a cassation appeal and is seeking permission to travel to China, from where the blogger received an invitation for treatment. The information about what the court decided, how Chekalina is undergoing chemotherapy and at what stage she is preparing for the trip is in the Izvestia article.

What is known about Lercek's petition for clemency

According to Tretyakov, Chekalina herself wrote an appeal addressed to the head of state. Since the blogger was sentenced to probation, the appeal was sent through the president's Internet reception. He was then transferred to the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN). By November 12, the decision on the petition had not been publicly announced.

Probationers can also apply for clemency. In the general procedure, the application is registered by the institution or body executing the punishment, and the territorial administration of the Federal Penitentiary Service sends the materials to the regional pardon commission. She prepares an opinion for the head of the region, who submits a submission to the president. This procedure is established by Presidential Decree No. 787.

The decision on pardon is made by the President. By an act of pardon, a convicted person may be released from further serving his sentence, shorten the sentence, or replace the punishment with a more lenient one. If a person has already served his sentence, a pardon can remove a criminal record. These measures are provided for in Article 85 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

What did the Moscow City Court decide in the Lercek case?

On October 16, Chekalina's criminal case was sent to the Moscow City Court for consideration of complaints from the defense and representation of the prosecutor's office. The hearing was initially scheduled for November 17, then postponed to November 5 at the request of the lawyers. Tretyakov explained that the defense wanted to speed up the review due to Chekalina's state of health and the need to resolve the issue of her treatment abroad.

On November 5, the Moscow City Court upheld five years of probation and a fine of over 760 million rubles. The probation period is three years. The case was heard by a panel of three judges behind closed doors, and journalists were allowed to announce the decision. Chekalina was going to come to court, however, according to her lawyer, she missed the meeting for health reasons. On that day, the verdict came into force.

The state prosecution requested to increase the suspended sentence from five to six years, and the probation period from three to five. The defense asked to acquit Chekalina or, if the verdict remains, to postpone the payment of the fine.

The court partially satisfied the prosecutor's office's submission. He clarified that a suspended sentence applies only to the main punishment, and retained a three-year ban on the creation and administration of websites. According to Kommersant, during the probation period, Chekalina was banned from receiving income from online activities. The court also clarified the information about her children. Chekalina is required to report monthly at her place of residence.

What is Lercek's defense seeking in cassation

The defense appealed the verdict in cassation. The complaint was registered on November 10, according to the case file. The next day, Tretyakov told RIA Novosti that the lawyers were asking the court to drop the criminal case. The cassation instance verifies the legality of the verdict that has entered into force. As of November 12, the date of consideration of the complaint was not publicly announced.

An invitation from China and a request to the Federal Penitentiary Service

Against the background of the progression of the disease, doctors, according to Chekalina, suggested that she consider CAR-T-cell therapy in China. Lawyer Viktor Dugin told Izvestia about the request to allow her to leave for treatment on October 26. At that time, Chekalina was still waiting for an official invitation from the clinic.

Tretyakov announced on October 30 that he had received an invitation from China. According to him, the lawyers translated the document into Russian, notarized it and filed a request for departure. On the day of the appeal, November 5, Tretyakov explained that the issue of the trip would be considered separately. At the same time, he said that the defense intends to ask the court to release Chekalina from punishment due to a serious illness.

The request to the FSIN became known on November 10. Tretyakov confirmed that the documents had been handed over the day before. According to a source from Chekalina's entourage, the request was also re-sent to the court. As of November 12, no exit permit had been reported.

CAR-T therapy refers to cellular immunotherapy. The patient's T-lymphocytes are modified in the laboratory so that they can recognize specific targets on tumor cells, and then returned to the body. In June, the Chinese regulator approved one of the drugs in this class for some patients with advanced stomach cancer. The defense did not disclose details about the scheme proposed by Chekalina.

Lercek was urgently hospitalized. What is known

What is known about Lercek's health

On February 24, Chekalina gave birth to her fourth child with Argentine choreographer Luis Squicciarini. The day after she was discharged from the hospital, she was hospitalized. In early March, Squicciarini announced that Chekalina had been diagnosed with a metastatic tumor. Subsequently, it became known that the blogger was diagnosed with stage four stomach cancer. In the spring, Chekalina underwent surgery. In May, it was reported that she was undergoing radiation therapy.

In the fall, her family told about Chekalina's well-being. The blogger's ex-husband, Artyom Chekalin, said in the courtroom on October 21 that she was in severe pain and had been "practically not getting up" for a month and a half. Squicciarini also talked about the pain in her legs and the examinations she underwent.

On October 22, Chekalina herself spoke about the results of the PET-CT scan. According to her, the metastases began to grow again. Tumor foci were found in the adrenal glands and ovaries, metastases also reappeared in the lungs.

On November 3, Chekalina announced a repeat course of chemotherapy at Moscow City Oncological Hospital No. 62. According to the blogger, she was sent there for treatment under the compulsory medical insurance policy after an examination at the National Medical Research Center of Oncology named after N.N. Blokhin.

On the morning of November 5, a source from Chekalina's entourage informed Izvestia about her emergency hospitalization for a medical procedure. On the same day, Squicciarini denied the Instagram post (owned by Meta, a recognized extremist organization in Russia). According to him, doctors came to Chekalina's home, where she completed a course of chemotherapy.

Chekalina told about her health after the second course on November 10. According to her, her eyesight deteriorated, and she became very weak and drowsy. On that day, the blogger announced that she was going to have an MRI scan of her brain.

What were Valeria and Artyom Chekalin convicted for?

The case of illegal currency transactions was initiated in October 2024. His defendants were Valeria and Artem Chekalin, as well as their business partner Roman Vishnyak. In the same month, the Troitskiy District Court of Moscow placed the former spouses under house arrest.

Chekalin announced the deterioration of blogger Lerchek's condition. The main thing

According to investigators, from September 2021 to February 2022, when selling the "Ideal Body" fitness marathon courses, the defendants transferred about 251.6 million rubles to a non-resident's account in the UAE. They submitted documents to the bank with false information about the grounds, purposes and purpose of payments. The case was qualified under clauses "a" and "b" of Part 3 of Article 193.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation — currency transactions using forged documents committed by an organized group on an especially large scale.

Valeria and Artem Chekalin denied any wrongdoing in the illegal transfer of funds. Artyom admitted violations of tax legislation. Earlier, cases of tax evasion and money laundering were initiated against the Chekalins. At the end of 2023, they paid off the tax debt, and both cases were subsequently terminated.

Vishnyak pleaded guilty and entered into a pre-trial cooperation agreement. His case was reviewed separately. At the end of January, the court sentenced him to two years and six months in a penal colony and a fine of 500 thousand rubles. The Moscow City Court upheld the verdict on May 6.

On April 13, the court sentenced Artyom Chekalin to seven years in a penal colony and a fine of about 194.5 million rubles. His defense announced at the same time that it would appeal the verdict, and later published a video message recorded before the trial in which Chekalin declared his innocence. The Moscow City Court rejected his appeal on October 21.

The case of Valeria Chekalina was separated into a separate proceeding. Due to a serious illness, his trial was suspended on March 16, and house arrest was replaced by a ban on certain actions. The proceedings resumed on July 24, and on July 31, the Gagarin District Court of Moscow handed down the verdict. Before the verdict came into force, Chekalin was banned from certain actions. The verdict was challenged by the prosecutor's office, and the defense filed appeals./