Common grounds: criminal cases will be initiated against five Rostov judges

The Higher Qualification Board of Judges (HCCC) of Russia has agreed to initiate criminal proceedings against former and current judges of Rostov-on-Don on corruption charges. So, eight episodes of receiving bribes were brought against the ex-chairman of the Sovetsky district court of the city, Elena Kobleva. For example, the investigation believes that for 500 thousand rubles she helped to avoid a real sentence for a repeat offender who was accused of theft. There is also evidence in the materials of law enforcement agencies that she could obstruct justice and impose a deliberately unjustified sentence. Other cases will be initiated against two retired judges, a current judge, as well as a retired justice of the peace. The information about the punishment they face and what the series of arrests of Rostov judges means is in the Izvestia article.

What are the judges accused of?

The Higher Qualification Board of Judges allowed criminal cases of corruption against five judges to be initiated: "servants of the law" from the Rostov region were suspected of bribery and the imposition of unlawful sentences. The decision was made based on the submissions of the Chairman of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin.

The investigation believes that the former chairman of the Sovetsky District Court of Rostov-on-Don, Elena Kobleva, organized a criminal community of judges to systematically receive bribes for making the necessary decisions.

One of the episodes that Kobleva should be charged with after the case was initiated was a suspended sentence for a bribe of 500 thousand rubles. This was done by one of the judges she supervised. Of this amount, 200 thousand rubles, according to investigators, Kobleva personally received. In addition, for a bribe of 100,000 rubles, a fine was issued for driving into the oncoming lane, although such a violation provides for the deprivation of rights. In total, the case file includes eight hundred episodes of receiving large and especially large bribes, as well as facts of obstruction of justice and knowingly unlawful sentencing.

Kobleva's representative at the HCCC meeting stated that she did not consider herself guilty and insisted that all her activities were carried out within the framework of the law. At the same time, the suspect is already being held by the accused in another criminal case and a preventive measure in the form of detention has been chosen against her.

Two and five episodes of bribery are planned to be attributed to Oleg Batalshchikov and Natalia Tsmakalova, respectively, colleagues of Kobleva, former judges of the Soviet District Court of Rostov—on-Don. The current judge, Artur Maslov, is suspected of accepting bribes and knowingly passing an unjustified sentence.

—I believe that I am conscientiously fulfilling my duties,— Maslov said, speaking at the hearing via videoconference.

According to his lawyer, the judge did not receive money, but a certificate for visiting a spa salon for his mother.

Former Justice of the Peace Elmira Ponomareva is scheduled to be charged with bribing Kobleva for her appointment as a justice of the peace.

Judicial affairs

The "Case of the Rostov judges" started in 2023, when the investigation conducted searches in a number of courts in Rostov-on-Don as part of an investigation into corruption schemes to impose "necessary" sentences.

The first person arrested in this case was Andrei Roshchevsky, the former head of the Judicial Department of the Rostov Region, who was detained in early April 2023 and charged with mediation in large—scale bribery. Searches were also conducted at the offices of Elena Zolotareva, chairman of the Rostov Regional Court, Tatiana Yurova, her deputy, and seven other judges.

According to the investigation, they are charged with receiving bribes in the amount of 21 million rubles. The ex-judge was accused, in particular, of accepting bribes for adjudicating civil cases in the interests of the Pokrovsky agricultural holding, whose owner, Andrei Korovaiko, was arrested in absentia and is wanted.

The episode with the largest bribe — 10 million rubles — is connected with the criminal case against residents of the Rostov region Garegin Keyan and Karen Arakelyan, who were found guilty of robbery. In 2017, criminals attacked a courier carrying 9 million rubles and took the money from him. In 2022, the Kamensky District Court sentenced them to 11 years in a penal colony each.

According to the prosecution, after the sentencing, unidentified persons from among the convicts' acquaintances handed over 10 million rubles to Tatyana Yurova, who gave them to Elena Zolotareva. As a result, the Kamensky district court's verdict was overturned by the court of appeal, and then Garegin Keyan and Karen Arakelyan's prison terms were reduced to nine years in the district court.

Zolotareva's criminal case is currently being considered by the Pervomaisky District Court of Krasnodar — she faces 20 years in a penal colony and 170 million rubles in fines. In addition, the state prosecution requested the confiscation of 18.4 million rubles from her. The prosecutor asked Tatiana Yurova to be sentenced to 18 years in prison and a fine of 120 million rubles.

Both defendants pleaded not guilty. They refuse to testify, Andrei Roshchevsky claims that his conversations with the chairman of the regional court, which were included in the case file, were not related to corruption schemes.

Also in the dock are former chairman of the Rostov-on-Don Zheleznodorozhny District Court Georgy Bondarenko and Albert Romanov, Plenipotentiary representative of the Chechen Republic in the Kaliningrad region. They are accused of transferring and receiving bribes. Bondarenko insists that he staged the transfer of a bribe to Elena Zolotareva in order to check whether she was being followed.

In addition, in 2023, Svetlana Martynova, an ex-judge of the Arbitration Court of the Rostov Region, was sentenced to ten years in a penal colony. She and her accomplices stole 92 million rubles from the arrested account of Nadezhda Tsapok, the mother of the leader of a well—known gang from Kushchevka. Earlier, she also received seven years in prison for fraud with farmland of the same Nadezhda Tsapok.

What kind of punishment can the judges expect?

The articles of the Criminal Code, according to which they plan to bring charges against judges, are particularly serious crimes against state power and justice, lawyers told Izvestia.

Elena Kobleva can receive up to 15 years in prison with a fine of up to 70 times the amount of a bribe or with the deprivation of the right to hold an appropriate position, explained Oleg Kim, lawyer, partner at Legal Advisor Law Office.

— Considering that she is charged with a number of other crimes and all of them are serious, she faces up to 22.5 years in total. However, women are rarely given such terms, so I think she will be given no more than 15 years," lawyer Evgeny Stegantsev told Izvestia.

Oleg Batalshchikov, Artur Maslov and Natalia Tsmakalova face from 7 to 12 years in prison with a fine of up to 60 times the amount of a bribe or, accordingly, with the deprivation of the right to hold the position of judge, Oleg Kim added.

According to the lawyer, Elmira Ponomareva may be sentenced from 8 to 15 years with a fine of up to 70 times the amount of the bribe.

The defendants may also face deprivation of a special rank, class rank, state awards and, of course, a lifetime ban from public service, said Albert Khaleyan, a criminal lawyer and partner at the Vector Prime Moscow Bar Association.

At the same time, he recalled that the fact of giving consent to the initiation of a case and bringing charges does not mean that a person is found guilty.

— The presumption of innocence is the most important principle of our justice. And he fully treats the judges," the lawyer emphasized.

Recently, the trend in the number of charges brought against judges has increased, experts told Izvestia. For example, at the end of November, the HCCC issued permits to initiate criminal proceedings against six more judges from Adygea, Kursk, Nalchik, St. Petersburg, Kurgan Region and Mordovia.

— The fact that the HCCC of the Russian Federation considers several such submissions at once is very rare, — Albert Khaleyan said. — This does not speak about everyday practice, but about the urgency of what is happening. And the mass consideration of such cases in November is unprecedented even now.

According to the expert, this fact may indicate the seriousness of the materials presented by the investigation and that the mechanism for holding judges accountable, no matter how complex, is working. In addition, it is a signal that the principle of "no one is above the law" has practical application even in the most closed professional environment — the judicial one.

Oleg Kim added that according to data from open sources, over the past two years, consent to initiate criminal proceedings has been given against 33 judges, in 2024 — 21, in 2025 — 12. And from 2016 to 2022, such consent was obtained more than a hundred times.