MOSCOW, August 13. /TASS/. Darya Sosnovskaya, a woman who was punched by a police officer during detention at a rally in downtown Moscow, is currently unable to attend the hearing of her case at Moscow’s Tagansky District Court due to a brain concussion, her lawyer Tatyana Molokanova said.
"My client has suffered a brain concussion. She is on medical leave and cannot show up in court. It is impossible to hold a hearing without her because she is facing a community service punishment," the lawyer said, adding that Sosnovskaya was unwilling to plead guilty. The case files haven’t been sent to court yet, Molokanova noted.
A video was posted on the Internet earlier that showed two police officers detaining the woman after the August 10 rally. The clip shows one of the officers punching her in the liver. According to medical reports available to TASS, Sosnovskaya suffered a contusion to her scalp and chest. Moscow Police launched a probe into the incident, emphasizing that all those responsible would be held accountable. Police also said that Sosnovskaya had been detained for violating public order. The Russian Investigative Committee is also looking into the incident.
An official from the Interior Ministry’s Main Moscow Department told TASS earlier that police officers and National Guard members had detained 136 people for participating in an unauthorized march organized once an authorized rally had ended on Sakharov Avenue on Saturday.
The August 10 rally was the fourth one conducted in support of independent candidates barred from running for the Moscow City Council. The previous rallies were held on July 20 and 27, as well as on August 3. Only the first one of them had been authorized by the Moscow mayor’s office.