All news

Court to hear parties' arguments in Moscow's Bolotnaya Square riot case

The case was opened after the May 6, 2012 riot, when a rally sanctioned by the authorities, escalated to clashes with police

MOSCOW, January 22. /ITAR-TASS/. Moscow's Zamoskvorechye court on Wednesday will hear arguments on the parties in the case over the riot on Moscow's Bolotnaya Square in May 2012.

The case was opened after the May 6, 2012 riot, when a rally sanctioned by the authorities, escalated to clashes with police. More than 400 people were detained and 30 police and several dozen protesters were injured.

At present, the case is being reviewed against eight defendants: Yaroslav Belousov, Stepan Zimin, Artyom Savelov, Alexei Polikhovich, Denis Lutskevich, Alexandra Dukhanina /Naumova/, Andrei Barabanov and Sergei Krivov.

Defendants' lawyer Dmitry Agranovsky said the arguments might take more than one hearing.

At the Wednesday hearing, the prosecutor is expected to ask the court to mete out prison terms for the defendants.

Maxim Luzyanin, a defendant in the case, has already been convicted and another defendant, Mikhail Kosenko, has been sent for compulsory treatment.

There were some 30 defendants in the case. After the amnesty marking the 20th anniversary of the Russian Constitution, criminal proceedings were dropped against eight suspects in the case.