Opposition figure Lyubov Sobol fined for repeatedly violating Russia’s protest regulations

Moscow’s Simonovsky District Court has fined opposition figure Lyubov Sobol 300,000 rubles (about $4,000) for repeatedly violating the regulations for holding rallies (article 20.2, part 8, of the Russian Administration Code).

Sobol, who works for Alexey Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, was fined over comments she made during an Ekho Moskvy radio broadcast. According to the police report, she urged “an unlimited number of people to take part in an unauthorized rally on April 21.”

Lawyer Vladimir Voronin maintained that there was “not a word from Lyubov [Sobol] about the rally” during the Ekho Moskvy interview.

• On April 21, Lyubov Sobol was arrested for allegedly inciting participation in an unauthorized protest. This took place several hours before the start of a rally in Moscow in solidarity with jailed opposition politician Alexey Navalny. Sobol was released later that evening, after spending several hours in custody inside a police bus and then at a police station.