MOSCOW, April 13. /TASS/. Moscow’s Basmanny Court has ruled in favor of arresting four individuals accused of using violence against police and National Guardsmen in the unauthorized March 26 rally in the Russian capital, the court told TASS on Thursday.
"The court has granted the investigators’ request and chosen to hold four suspects of the case in custody until July 12 as a restraint measure," the court said.
The investigation has established the complicity of Alexander Shpakov born in 1977, Stanislav Zimovets born in 1985, Yuri Kuliy born in 1989 and Andrei Kosykh born in 1986 in committing a crime as stipulated by article 318 of Russia’s Criminal Code ("The Use of Violence against a Representative of Authorities"). All of them were detained by authorized personnel from the Russian Interior Ministry, Investigative Committee Spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko told TASS.
According to the detectives, the detainees used violence against law enforcement authorities during the unauthorized rally.
"For example, Shpakov who was on Tverskaya Street, was trying to open up the door to a police paddy wagon where other detainees were being held and punched a policeman in the face several times. Kosykh struck a policeman in the head at an underground pass of the Tverskaya metro station and then kicked a policeman in the head in the vicinity of Malaya Dmitrovka Street, after which the policeman collapsed and lost consciousness," the Investigative Committee spokeswoman said.
Suspect Zimovets hurled a brick at a policeman from behind, promptly disappearing into the crowd, while Kuliy also assaulted a cop, the spokeswoman said.
By now, detectives have gathered enough conclusive evidence, including video records corroborating the suspects’ guilt. Moreover, Kosykh and Kuliy voluntarily gave voluntary testimony on all the details of the crimes and fully admitted their guilt, the spokeswoman said.
As the Investigative Committee said, the organizers of the unauthorized rally were misleading citizens, claiming that the protest had been agreed on with municipal authorities through an established procedure.
"In the course investigation, evidence has been compiled which validate this information," the Investigative Committee spokeswoman said.
The Russian Investigative Committee’s Main Department for High-Profile Investigation is investigating a criminal case of the unlawful actions by participants of an unauthorized mass event in Pushkinskaya Square in downtown Moscow and adjacent territory on March 26 on three counts of Russia’s Criminal Code: article 213 ("Hooliganism"), article 317 (Attempt on the Life of a Law Enforcement Officer") and article 318 ("The Use of Violence against a Representative of Authorities").
"Investigative procedures are also being conducted with regards to other suspects as part of the criminal case. The probe continues," Investigative Committee spokeswoman Petrenko said.