MOSCOW, October 11 (Itar-Tass) — Moscow's Tverskoi court is hearing the lawyers of the defendants in the case over mass disturbances in Moscow's Manezhnaya Square in December 2010.
"Leader of ‘Other Russia’ Eduard Limonov will be questioned as a witness at the trial," Dmitry Agranovsky, the lawyer of one of the defendants, told Itar-Tass on Tuesday.
The court will question Limonov at 11:00, Moscow time, on Thursday, October 13, Agranovsky said.
Also on Thursday, the court plans to begin to question the defendants.
The defendants within the Manezhnaya riots case are Belarusian citizen, activist of the unregistered public association "Other Russia," and Strategiya 31 movement Igor Berezyuk, two "Other Russia" activists Krill Unchuk and Ruslan Khubayev, and Leonid Panin and Alexander Kozevin. All are in custody.
Berezyuk was charged with calls for mass disturbances, hooliganism, inciting hate or strife, use of violence on government representative and involving minors in the commission of crime.
Khubayev, Unchuk, Panin and Kozevin were charged with calls for mass disturbances, hooliganism and use of violence on government representatives.
Mass disturbances in central Moscow occurred on December 11, 2010. They were provoked by the murder of Spartak fan Yegor Sviridov in a fight with North Caucasus natives, which happened several days before.
Up to 5,000 football fans and representatives of nationalist organizations gathered in Manezhnaya Square, indignant at police, who initially detained the six persons suspected of involvement in the murder, but later released five of them on recognizance.
The unsanctioned rally escalated to clashes with police.
Criminal cases were opened over riots in Manezhnaya Square and the subway stations Kitai Gorod, Tretyakovskya, Tverskaya, and Filyovsky Park. Five suspects were detained in the period from January to April 2011.
"The investigation into the criminal cases against other participants in the riots continues," Investigation Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said.
At the present time, the Moscow City Court is hearing the case over the murder of Spartak fan Yegor Sviridov.
Earlier, the law-enforcement authorities arraigned 21-year-old Muscovite Nikolai Dvoinyakov. He was detained on August 29, 2011. His actions were qualified under Article 318, Part 1 of Russia's Criminal Code (use of violence on government representative), Article 213, Part 2 (hooliganism), and Article 212, Part 3 (calls for mass disturbances).
The investigators ascertained that on December 11, he was calling upon citizens to resist police and throwing metal fences at police offices. A court sanctioned his arrest.
On Tuesday, SK spokesman Markin said another participant in the Manezhnaya Square disturbances had been detained. He was identified as Vitaly Vasin, 24, a resident of the Samara region.
He is suspected of the commission of crimes envisioned by Article 13, Part 1 of the Criminal Code (use of violence on government representative), and Article 213, Part 2 (hooliganism). Vasin is due to be charged shortly, the SK spokesman added.