Voice heard

The European Court of Human Rights has opened proceedings on complaints from two defendants in the “Bolotnaya Case” - Yaroslav Belousov and Vladimir Akimenkov, who is going blind in custody. Both of them are present these days at court hearings in the so-called “case of twelve,” in which twelve of the twenty-seven defendants are being tried in the case of the alleged mass riots on Bolotnaya Square on May 6 last year.

The complaint states that the applicants are subject to violations of articles of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, which guarantee the right not to be subjected to inhumane treatment, unlawful arrests, or unlawful extension of detention. As the lawyer of Akimenkov and Belousov, Dmitry Agranovsky, wrote in a blog, his clients are asking the ECHR to oblige Russia to pay them compensation in the amount of 100 thousand euros.

Even before the start of the court hearings, the defendants in the “Bolotnaya case” were constantly, for a long time and without proper grounds, extended their periods of detention. No arguments that they were not going to flee the country and could not put pressure on witnesses and victims (that is, the unfortunate, defenseless riot police whom they allegedly beat) had no effect on the judges. As for the current situation of the accused during court hearings, it is colorfully described in a blog by Anna Karetnikova, a member of the Moscow Public Monitoring Commission for Places of Deprivation of Liberty:

“At six in the morning they wake up people in the pre-trial detention center, at seven they are assembled, an escort car arrives and let’s take them to the Moscow City Court. It can take a long time. At the city court they are loaded into a convoy room into tiny cells with “fur coats” on the walls; they manage to fit two people into this cell. The guard is rude and rude, but I actually have three complaints about beatings in the guard premises. Well, this is how they sit in the morning, even if the case is scheduled for the afternoon, and if the trial starts earlier, the defendants also do not have time to have lunch. You have to ask the convoy for boiling water to dissolve your instant porridge - and then it’s time for the process again. There is no talk of preparing for the trial in such conditions.

And so they take them into the hall and put them in a plastic cage. In two rows. Benches without backs. There is nothing to write on, since there is no table in the aquarium. It’s very hard to hear from there, and it’s hard for us to hear what they say. Lawyers cannot communicate normally with their clients: there are small holes in the glass cages, which you must press either with your mouth or with your ear. There are larger holes on the sides, but for some reason the convoy prohibits communication through them. It’s cramped to sit, your back hurts, there’s not enough air. We should defend ourselves and participate in the process, but this is extremely difficult.

Then the process ends. The defendants are again put into cells in the guard room. They are waiting for the paddy wagon. Another paddy wagon. He can arrive at the pre-trial detention center at ten in the evening, or maybe at eleven. Fuck you, not dinner, not a shower. It seems like we need to prepare for the process, but we no longer have the strength. Wake up again at six in the morning. Paddy wagon, next meeting.”