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The “Moscow Case”: What You Need to Know

Arrests, Criminal Prosecutions for Peaceful Protests

In mid-July 2019, peaceful protests began in Moscow, triggered by the exclusion of independent candidates from the September 8 city legislature elections. Authorities responded with brute force, in many cases violently confronting the peaceful protesters. In July-November, 24 people were arrested on charges of “mass rioting” and/or assaulting police. The mass rioting charges are groundless: video footage of the events leading up to these arrests show police breaking up peaceful marches and assemblies.

Despite the fact that most of the police assault charges ranged from excessive to groundless, some of the accused have already been sentenced to several years of prison. Even in those cases where protesters may have committed an infraction, the sentences in these instances have been excessive.

Jump to Selected Case SummariesJump to Full List

Video footage reviewed by Human Rights Watch shows that many of the accused did not engage in any aggressive behavior. Some threw empty plastic bottles or attempted to stop police officers from beating peaceful protesters. One man pulled a police officer’s arm from a protester and another tried to touch an officer’s visor.

Two men’s behavior was more serious: in one case, a man threw a metal trash can at a police officer, and in another, a man sprayed a chemical substance in the direction of officers. But even in these cases, the evidence doesn’t support the charges and no officers were injured.

By April 20, of these 24,

  • fourteen were sentenced on assault charges to 2 to 3.5 years in prison. One of them, Pavel Ustinov, was released from jail on his own recognizance on September 20, following on a vigorous public campaign in his support, and on appeal, on September 30 a court upheld the guilty verdict but changed the sentence to a one-year suspended sentence;
  • seven were released and their cases closed. One of these seven was freed following an emergency hospitalization, and another, Alexey Minyailo, was released after seven weeks in pretrial custody;
  • one, Aidar Gubaidulin, was arrested in absentia and put on international wanted list after he had fled Russia for fear of imprisonment.

Sustained, public campaigns contributed to the nearly unprecedented releases of Pavel Ustinov and Alexei Minyailo. Famous theater personalities, A-list pop-stars, and other prominent figures, including those who never showed anything but loyalty toward the Kremlin, spoke up in defense of Pavel Ustinov and called for his release. A group of Russian Orthodox priests were among the many people who campaigned on behalf of Minyailo. Following this, a court dropped the case against him and freed him. These developments inspired hope for the others jailed on politically motivated charges. However, in October law enforcement authorities arrested five more men as part of the Moscow case and charged them with police assault.

One activist, Konstantin Kotov, received a four-year prison sentence for “repeated” participation in unsanctioned public gatherings. Despite vigorous public campaigning on his behalf, he is still in jail pending appeal. Criminal prosecution for serial assembly violations was enabled by draconian legislation adopted in 2014.

Six of the unregistered candidates received repeated administrative charges and temporary arrest sentences for violating regulations on mass gatherings, leaving them at risk of criminal prosecution, similarly to Kotov.

Courts issued warnings to two couples who brought their children to the protests, after the prosecutor’s office sought to have them stripped of their parental rights. Also, one man received five years’ imprisonment for a provocative tweet suggesting that law enforcement officers’ children could become the target of reprisals.

Criminally prosecuting people merely for exercising the right to peaceful assembly, including “repeated” participation in or organization of public gatherings, violates Russia’s international human rights law obligations to guarantee the right to freedom of assembly.

Criminal charges for interfering with police arrests and assaulting police officers are not improper, but the circumstances of many of the cases reviewed by Human Rights Watch—limited or no contact with police, negligible harm, and in some instances accounts by police that are exaggerated or possibly untruthful—strongly suggest the purpose of these charges was to discourage the legitimate exercise of the right to peaceful protest.

When criminal charges are appropriate, the sanctions sought and imposed should be proportionate to the offense. All the sentences imposed in the cases reviewed by Human Rights Watch appear excessive.

Selected Case Summaries

Danil Beglets

Convicted of police assault over grabbing an officer’s arm (originally also charged with participation in mass-rioting) More »

Kirill Zhukov

Convicted of police assault over attempting to lift the visor of an officer’s helmet (originally also charged with participation in mass-rioting) More »

Pavel Ustinov

Convicted on charges of assaulting and inflicting medium damage to the health of a police officer (the officer claimed he dislocated his shoulder while detaining Ustinov) More »

Evgeny Kovalenko

Convicted of police assault on allegations of pushing an officer and throwing a trash can at a police officer (originally charged with participation in mass-rioting) More »

Ivan Podkopaev

Convicted of police assault over pepper spraying two police officers (originally also charged with participation in mass-rioting) More »

Konstantin Kotov

Convicted on charges of repeated violations of regulations on public gatherings More »

Yegor Zhukov

Convicted of extremist calls over criticizing the government in YouTube videos (originally accused of mass-rioting , changed on Sept 3rd) More »

Alexei Minyailo

Charged with participation in mass riots More »

Sergey Fomin

Charged with mass-rioting over “directing” protesters More »

The tables below provide detailed information on the status, charges, and any court rulings.

Persons Arrested on Charges of Mass-Rioting or Police Assault in Connection with the Moscow Protests

Name Current Status Allegation details Date of arrest
Evgeny Kovalenko (1971) Sentenced to 3 years and five months in prison on Sept 4th Convicted of police assault on allegations of pushing an officer and throwing a trash can at a police officer
(originally charged with participation in mass-rioting)
July 29th
Ivan Podkopaev (1993) Pleaded guilty on Aug 26th, sentenced to 3 years in prison on Sept 3rd. Sentence reduced to 2 years on appeal on Oct 9th Convicted of police assault over pepper spraying two police officers (originally also charged with participation in mass-rioting) Aug 2nd
Kirill Zhukov (1990) Sentenced to 3 years in prison on Sept 4th. Sentence upheld on appeal on Oct 9th Convicted of police assault over attempting to lift the visor of an officer’s helmet (originally also charged with participation in mass-rioting) Aug 2nd
Danil Beglets (1992) Sentenced to 2 years in prison on Sept 3rd. Sentence upheld on appeal on Oct 7th. The court of cassation changed the sentence from colony to open prison on Mar 27th Convicted of police assault over grabbing an officer’s arm (originally also charged with participation in mass-rioting) Aug 9th
Eduard Malyshevsky On Dec 9th, sentenced to three years in prison. Sentence reduced to 2 years and 9 months on appeal on Jan 29th Convicted of police assault over breaking a window while inside a police van and allegedly injuring a police officer standing on the outside of the van Sept 2nd
Nikita Chirtsov On Dec 6th, sentenced to one year in prison. Sentence reduced by Moscow City Court to 11 months on appeal on Apr 13th. Released on April 20th Convicted of police assault over pushing a police officer Sept 2nd
Pavel Ustinov (1995) Sentenced to 3.5 years in jail on Sept 16th. On Sept 19th, the prosecutor’s office petitioned the court for his release from jail on his own recognizance pending appeal hearing. On Sept 20th, Ustinov was released. On Sept 30th, the appeals court upheld the guilty verdict but changed to sentence to a one year suspended sentence Convicted on charges of assaulting and inflicting medium damage to the health of a police officer (the officer claimed he dislocated his shoulder while detaining Ustinov) Aug 3rd
Alexey Minyailo (1985) Released, charges dropped on September 26 Charged with participation in mass riots Aug 2nd
Vladislav Barabanov (1997) Released, charges dropped on Sept 3rd Arrested on allegations of mass-rioting over “directing” protesters Aug 3rd
Sergey Abanichev (1994) Released, charges dropped on Sept 3rd Arrested on allegation on mass-rioting over throwing a single-serving soft drink can at a police officer Aug 3rd
Daniil Konon (1997) Released, charges dropped on Sept 3rd Arrested on allegations of mass-rioting Aug 3rd
Sergey Fomin (1983) Released, charges dropped on Dec 6th Charged with mass-rioting over “directing” protesters Aug 9th
Dmitry Vasiliev Detained on Aug 9th, but hospitalized on Aug 10th because his health severely deteriorated in detention due to lack of access to insulin. On Aug 11th, the Basmanny District Court returned to the investigation their petition to place Vasiliev in pretrial custody, refusing to conduct a hearing in absentia. On Aug 12th, Vasiliev was released from hospital. So far, the authorities have not gone after him. It’s not clear whether charges against him have been dropped Arrested on allegations of mass-rioting Aug 9th
Valery Kostenok (1999) Released, charges dropped on Sept 3rd despite confessing Arrested on allegations of mass-rioting over throwing two empty plastic bottles at officers Aug 12th
Yegor Zhukov (1998) Transferred to house arrest on Sept 3rd. His trial began on December 3. The prosecutor asked for four years’ imprisonment. On Dec 6th, sentenced to three years’ suspended imprisonment with three years’ probation period and two years’ ban from administering websites. Sentence upheld by Moscow City Court on appeal on Feb 13th Convicted of extremist calls over criticizing the government in YouTube videos (originally accused of mass-rioting , changed on Sept 3rd) Aug 2nd
Samariddin Radjabov (1998) On Dec 24th, sentenced to a 100 000-ruble fine (US$ 1,600) Convicted of an attempted assault of police over throwing a plastic bottle in the direction of an officer (originally accused of mass-rioting) Aug 2nd
Aidar Gubaidulin (1993) Held in pre-trial detention until Sept 18th;
on Sept 18th, released from jail under own recognizance pending trial. On Oct 17th, Gubaidulin posted on social media that he fled Russia for fear of imprisonment. On Oct 30th, Russian authorities ordered Gubaidulin’s arrest and put him on the international wanted list
Charged with an attempted assault of police over throwing a plastic bottle at an officer (originally accused of mass-rioting, switched on Aug 31st) Aug 9th

Vladimir Yemelyanov, 27 y/o 

On Dec 6th, sentenced to two years’ suspended imprisonment with three years’ probation period Convicted of police assault over forcibly holding an officer down Oct 14th
Andrey Barshay, 21 y/o

On Jan 22d, the court overturned the arrest warrant. On Feb 18th, sentenced to three years’ suspended imprisonment with three years’ probation period

Charged with police assault over running up to an officer and pushing him from behind Oct 14th
Yegor Lesnykh, 34 y/o

On Dec 6th, sentenced to three years in prison. Sentence upheld on appeal on Jan 29th

Convicted of police assault as part of an organized group over pushing an officer down together with Martintsov and Mylnikov as well as kicking another officer

Oct 14th
Maksim Martintsov, 27 y/o

On Dec 6th, sentenced to 2,5 years in prison. Sentence upheld on appeal on Jan 29th

Convicted of police assault as part of an organized group over pushing an officer down together with Lesnykh and Mylnikov

Oct 14th
Aleksandr Mylnikov, 32 y/o On Dec 6th, sentenced to two years’ suspended imprisonment

Convicted of police assault as part of an organized group over pushing an officer down together with Lesnykh and Martintsov

Oct 15th

Pavel Novikov, 32 y/o On Dec 6th, sentenced to a 120 000-ruble fine (US$ 1,880) Convicted of police assault over attacking an officer with a bottle Oct 29th
Sergey Surovtsev, 30 y/o On Dec 24th, sentenced to 2,5 years in prison. Sentence upheld by Moscow City Court on appeal on Apr 20th Convicted of police assault over attacking an officer with a metal railing Nov 28th

Activist Convicted on Charges of Repeated Violations of Regulations on Public Gatherings

Name Current Status Allegation details Date of arrest
Konstantin Kotov (1985) Sentenced to 4 years on Sept 5th. Sentence upheld on appeal on Oct 14th. Sentence reduced by Moscow City Court to 1 year and 5 months on second appeal on Apr 20th Convicted on charges of repeated violations of regulations on public gatherings Aug 12th

Person Convicted on Charges of Incitement of Hatred

Name Current Status Allegation details Date of arrest
Vladislav Sinitsa Sentenced to 5 years in prison on Sept 3rd. Sentence upheld on appeal on Oct 4th. The court of cassation upheld the sentence on Jan 29th Convicted on charges of incitement to hatred over a tweet about possible online retaliation against children of police officers who worked during the protests on July 27th Aug 4th

Unregistered Candidates Who Served Consecutive and Arbitrary Administrative Arrest Sentences in Retaliation for Their Protest Activity

Name Allegation details Date of arrest
Ilya Yashin Total of days spent under consecutive administrative arrests: 40 Tweeting about the Aug 3rd protest Aug 28th
  “Encouraging participation in unsanctioned protests” Aug 18th
  Organizing the July 14th protest Aug 8th
  Organizing the July 14th protest July 30th
  Tweeting about the July 27th protest July 29th
Yulia Galyamina Total of days spent under consecutive administrative arrests: 35 Organizing an unsanctioned protest on Aug 3rd Aug 21st
  Participating in a protest on July 27th that affected street transportation Aug 6th
  Organizing an unsanctioned protest on July 27th July 27th
Konstantin Yankauskas Total of days spent under consecutive administrative arrests: 26 Calling on people to participate in the Aug 3rd protest on Twitter Aug 14th
  Tweeting about the July 14th meeting of opposition supporters Aug 5th
  Organizing the unsanctioned July 27th protest July 29th
Oleg Stepanov Total of days spent under consecutive administrative arrests: 23 Participating in a protest Aug 1st
  Writing a Facebook post about the July 27th protest July 27th
Ivan Zhdanov Left the country right after his release from the first 15 days’ arrest without serving the second sentence Organizing a protest without submitting a notice Aug 11th
  Participating in a protest on July 27th that affected street transportation July 29th
Dmitry Gudkov Total of days spent under consecutive administrative arrest: 36 Writing a Facebook post about the July 27th protest Aug 23rd
  Participating in the July 14th meeting of opposition supporters July 30th

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