Like twice two

The convicts in the swamp case Andrei Barabanov and Alexei Gaskarov filed a complaint with the Constitutional Court. According to Vedomosti, political prisoners demand that the provisions of the Criminal Code be recognized as unconstitutional, allowing, in their opinion, to judge twice for the same act. The applicants consider it illegal to qualify one crime under different articles of the Criminal Code if one of them “covers” the other.

Like most “Bolotnikov”, Barabanov and Gaskarov, they found guilty under the articles “Participation in the Massions” (part 2 of article 212 of the Criminal Code) and “Violence for a representative of power” (part 1 of article 318 of the Criminal Code). Meanwhile, the signs of a crime under the 318th article are provided for by a heavier article 212, says lawyer Ramil Akhmetgaliev, representing the interests of Barabanov and Gaskarov. The lawyer recalled that the same actions of the "swamps" were qualified in two articles and for each a separate punishment was imposed with subsequent addition.

In February 2014, Barabanov was sentenced to three years and seven months of imprisonment, in August of the same year Gaskarov received three and a half years.

“In our opinion, the whole danger of the situation lies in the fact that in this case the qualifications did not go according to the rules, but according to the concepts,” Akhmetgaliev noted. “The basis of the sentence was not generally accepted by the qualifications enshrined in the Criminal Code, but by the state authority of each encroachment on its representative as a particularly dangerous act as a particularly dangerous act.”

Earlier, Akhmetgaliev was already trying to challenge the "double qualification" of the acts of Barabanov and Gaskarov. The lawyer filed claims with the Moscow City Court and the Supreme Court. At the same time, it was emphasized that the defense considers the very fact of mass riots in Bolotnaya Square unproven, therefore, in addition to lifting the charges under Article 318, it requires a revision of the criminal case of both activists and their complete excuse.

The "double qualification" deprived Barabanov and Gaskarov with the opportunity to use the amnesty, Akhmetgaliev noted. All swamp prisoners who were not charged with the 318th article were amnestied.