Presumption of guilt

Arrest of anti-fascists accused of pogrom against Khimki administration extended

Alexei Gaskarov and Maxim Solopov will spend two more months in custody. Corresponding decisions were made on September 27 and 28 by the Khimki City Court. The activists, who have been charged with organized hooliganism with the use of weapons, have already...

Alexei Gaskarov and Maxim Solopov will spend two more months in custody. Corresponding decisions were made on September 27 and 28 by the Khimki City Court.

The activists, who are charged with organized hooliganism with the use of weapons, have already spent two months in the Mozhaisk pre-trial detention center. Lawyers for the anti-fascists are convinced that there are no grounds for detaining the guys - the detention protocols and the testimonies of witnesses have been falsified (Novaya Gazeta wrote in No. 95 about how the investigation obtains testimonies).

The court motivated the satisfaction of the prosecutor's petitions by the fact that anti-fascists can interfere with investigative actions: hide or influence witnesses. At the same time, during the trial of Solopov, the investigator and the representative of the state prosecution asked that information be added to the case, for example, that Maxim does not have a permanent income (he is a fifth-year student at the Faculty of History, Political Science and Law of the Russian State University for the Humanities). What relation this fact has to the detention of Maxim in custody, the investigator and the prosecutor did not explain.

Lawyer Yuri Eronin requested that the guarantees of Lev Ponomorev, Lyudmila Alekseeva, State Duma deputy Ilya Ponomarev and Maxim's characteristics from the place of study be included in the case file. The judge granted the request. But the information about 36 actions in support of Gaskarov and Solopov, held in 32 cities of 12 countries - from New York to Irkutsk, was considered insignificant. “Moreover, this can be regarded as pressure on the court,” the judge said. Maxim himself asked for a preventive measure not related to arrest - he would not be able to get a diploma if he missed the last year of study. But the court's decision turned out to be predictable: the arrest was extended for another two months.

And two weeks ago, on September 15, the acting chairman of the Khimki City Court, Svetlana Galanova, responded to a request from the National Confederation of Labor of Spain in support of Alexei and Maxim: “Gaskarov can be released from criminal prosecution if there is evidence of non-involvement in the circumstances that served as the basis for initiating a criminal case” . We sent a request to Svetlana Borisovna with a request to explain why her words do not comply with the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation and the fundamental principle of international law - the presumption of innocence. Waiting for an answer.