Russian opposition politician Leonid Gozman detained upon exit from his 15-days-stint in detention centre

Russian politician Leonid Gozman has been detained upon his exit from a Moscow detention centre, in which he had spent 15 days because of a Facebook post, reports correspondent of Novaya Gazeta. Europe.

Gozman’s administrative arrest ended at 19:32 PM (Moscow time). Special police task force agents detained the politician near the doors of the centre, made him go with them to the police car, and took him away.

UPDATE 20:46
Gozman was detained under the article on “publicly equating the actions of the USSR and Nazi Germany” for a 2013 LiveJournal post, his lawyer Mikhail Biryukov told Novaya Gazeta. Europe.

The court hearing will be held tomorrow, 14 September, at 11:00 AM (Moscow time); Gozman will remain at the police station for the night, according to his lawyer.

“I hope that Leonid won't face an administrative arrest. He suffers from cholelithiasis (gallstones), he can't be placed in a detention centre with this condition. When we informed the judge [of his condition], he said that, seeing as Leonid had recently been in a hospital, he must have already gotten better and was now able to serve his punishment,” Biryukov added.

On 30 August, a Moscow district court arrested Gozman for 15 days over charges of “equating the actions of the USSR and Nazi Germany” after he had published a Facebook post saying: “Hitler is absolute evil, but Stalin is even worse. The SS are criminals, but the NKVD [the Soviet police and secret police] are far worse, because they murdered their own. Hitler declared a war on mankind. The communists declared total war on their own people.”

On 25 July, Gozman was placed on Russia’s wanted list. He was detained in the Moscow metro on the same day and later released. The politician faces up to 400 hours’ community service, a 200,000-ruble (€3,300) fine, or a fine equal to his annual income for failing to notify the Russian official bodies of his second citizenship. The politician later stated that his wife had also been charged under the same article.