The main prosecution witness testified in the case of the Other Russia activist

Yesterday, the Nizhny Novgorod District Court began questioning prosecution witnesses in the criminal case of “The Other Russia” activist Yuri Staroverov. The investigation believes that in September 2012, during the unauthorized “March of Millions” rally, he obstructed the work of the police and “caused pain” to one of its employees. At yesterday's hearing, witness Vera Ismyatullina, who “accidentally” happened to be at the event, told how she was “shocked” by what she saw. The defense tried to prove that the case was “fabricated” and that the witness was engaged with employees of the Center for Combating Extremism

Yuri Staroverov is accused under Art. 318 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (use of violence not dangerous to life or health against a representative of the authorities). According to the investigation, on September 15, 2012, during the dispersal of the unauthorized “March of Millions” rally on Freedom Square, he “grabbed the head and neck” of OMON warrant officer Igor Lebedev and took several steps in this position, as a result of which the police officer “experienced severe physical pain.”

At yesterday's hearing, Vera Ismyatullina, the acting head of the Avtozavod branch of the Young Guard of United Russia, acted as one of the prosecution witnesses. She explained to the court that she “accidentally” came to Freedom Square at the moment when the action was taking place there. According to the witness, she heard police officers through loudspeakers inform those gathered that the protest was not authorized and asked everyone to disperse, warning of a possible forceful termination of the protest. Vera Ismyatullina also saw how those gathered ignored the demands of the police and took out slogans, posters, and began chanting. “The arrests have begun. Yuri Staroverov and Ekaterina Zaitseva (activist of the “Other Russia” - Kommersant) participated in the attack on the riot police. They flew at him, piled on him, it felt like they wanted to knock him down. Staroverov grabbed his neck, as if he was trying to take off his helmet, but somehow Catherine removed the helmet from him. The policeman took a few steps and hit his helmet. I was shocked by what was happening,” the witness admitted. Also, according to her, the police officer was “shocked”: “It was visible on his face.” She added that she saw everything that was happening clearly, since she was 7–10 meters from the scene of the incident.

During the court hearing, a “scheme of committing a crime” was added to the case materials. On it, the witness indicated with crosses, dots and dotted lines where, at what time and what she saw in September. As the lawyers said, having studied the scheme, the defense “strengthened” the opinion that the case was “fabricated.” For two and a half hours, lawyers tried to prove that the witness was “engaged” with police officers and, in particular, with employees of the center for countering extremism and could not see what she was talking about. Thus, lawyer Yuri Sidorov was interested in how the witness came to the attention of the police and became a witness, whether among the police officers present at the rally were her acquaintances, and in general, whether there were law enforcement officers among her acquaintances. Also, civil defenders Stanislav Dmitrievsky and Sergei Kuznetsov were interested in the details of what happened: whether the witness saw “remarkable details” like a man with a dog, the color of the flag that the oppositionists were holding, etc. She was also asked how she felt about the opposition and the “Other Russia” and whether she had any interest in slandering the movement activist.

Vera Ismyatullina insisted that she had no acquaintances among the police officers and they “located” her by identifying her in one of the videos. The fact that she is one of the leaders of the “pro-government organization” does not in any way affect her attitude towards the opposition: “She is parallel to me.”

Judge Andrei Shutov rejected some of the questions addressed to the witness as “not relevant to the case under consideration.” Among them were questions asked by Yuri Staroverov himself, who asked: “How do you feel about national leader Vladimir Putin? Do you support the existing government? Do you participate as a witness in other criminal cases?” The judge also rejected a request to include photographs in the case file in which, according to the defense, Vera Ismyatullina communicates with police officers during a rally. The judge pointed out that the photographs did not contain the date and time of the shooting and the location of the shooting could not be accurately identified from them.

The next court hearing is scheduled for September 10. During the investigation, it is planned to interrogate police witnesses.

Anton Prusakov

“The opposition is parallel to me”