The Smolninsky District Court in St. Petersburg decided that the municipal council of the Smolninskoye district could be dissolved – its members had previously demanded that President Vladimir Putin be accused of treason because of the war he had unleashed and submitted a proposal to the State Duma. Mundep Nikita Yuferev spoke about the court decision.
“The municipal council of Smolninskoye may be dissolved! The judge of the Smolninsky District Court A. G. Bondar, on the suit of the prosecutor's office, today decided that our council is inactive. Now the governor of St. Petersburg will decide whether to disperse us to hell or not. We will appeal this decision,” Yuferev wrote on Twitter.
According to the court, the council did not hold meetings – this the court called "inaction" and the basis for dissolution. At the same time, the process has been going on since 2021, but the decision was made only after the demand of the deputies to impeach Putin. Governor Alexander Beglov will finally decide the fate of the council.
Petersburg deputies of the Smolninskoye district decided to address the State Duma on September 7. In their opinion, Putin's actions since the beginning of the war fall under Article 93 of the Constitution: he can be removed from office on the basis of charges of treason brought forward by the State Duma. Politicians stressed that Putin "harms the security of Russia and its citizens." Protocols were drawn up against five of the authors of the appeal on the “discrediting” of the Russian army.
However, after that, a statement demanding that Putin be impeached was signed by municipal deputies from 17 districts of Moscow and St. Petersburg at once.