All news

Russian activist Lyubov Sobol found guilty of violating coronavirus restrictions

The restrictions imposed prohibit Sobol from leaving her house between 22:00 and 06:00, attending rallies or leaving her municipal district

MOSCOW, August 3. /TASS/. Moscow’s Preobrazhensky Court has sentenced former lawyer of the Anti-Corruption Foundation and activist Lyubov Sobol to 18 months of restriction of freedom, finding her guilty of violating sanitary rules during an unauthorized protest rally in January 2021, the court press service told TASS.

"To find her guilty of committing the crime qualified under Article 33 Part 4 and Article 236 Part 1 of the Russian Criminal Code and sentence her to one year and six months of restriction of freedom," the press service said. The restrictions imposed prohibit Sobol from leaving her house between 22:00 and 06:00, attending rallies or leaving her municipal district.

Sobol was found guilty of calling on people to join the unauthorized protest rally through social media, as the rally created risks of spreading the coronavirus. The prosecutor initially sought two years of restriction of freedom. Sobol pleaded not guilty, while her defense attorney attached a linguist’s opinion which reads that Sobol’s posts did not contain calls to violate epidemiological measures.

"My restriction of freedom will be controlled with an ankle monitor and a special device. If they record violations, the sentence can be changed for a tougher one," Sobol said after the verdict. She was removed from the courtroom when it was delivered for recording the hearing which violates rules of procedure.

This is the second verdict against those who stand accused of violating sanitary rules during the unauthorized protest rally in Moscow on January 23. Apart from Sobol, Oleg Navalny, brother of blogger Alexei Navalny, Pussy Riot member Maria Alekhina, head of Doctors’ Alliance Anastasia Vasilyeva, coordinator of Alexei Navalny’s Moscow headquarters Oleg Stepanov as well as several more Anti-Corruption Foundation employees also stand accused.