Moscow authorities want to recover almost 1.2 million rubles from a participant in the Manege pogrom

The Tverskoy Court of Moscow has begun a preliminary examination of the case of Orthodox activist Lyudmila Esipenko, accused of pogrom of an exhibition of Soviet sculptures in Manege. The Moscow government filed a civil lawsuit in the amount of almost 1.2 million rubles.

On June 27, 2016, a preliminary hearing began in the Tverskoy Court of Moscow in the case of Lyudmila Esipenko, accused under Part 1 of Art. 243 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (destruction or damage to objects of cultural heritage or cultural values) for participation in the pogrom of the exhibition of sculptures of Vadim Sidur in the Moscow Manege in 2015.

At the meeting it became known that the Moscow government, recognized as the injured party, filed a civil claim against L. Esipenko in the amount of 1,169,802 rubles for damage to exhibits (this amount includes the original cost of the exhibits - 196 thousand - and the cost of restoring the damaged items).

The defense insisted on returning the case to the prosecutor's office, but the court rejected the request. A hearing on the merits of the case is scheduled for July 7, 2016.

On August 8, 2016, L. Esipenko was released from house arrest by court decision. Sources

• On July 7, the court will begin consideration of the merits of the case of the participant in the pogrom of the exhibition in Manege // TASS. 2016. June 27.
• Moscow authorities sued an Orthodox activist for more than 1 million for damage to exhibits at an exhibition in the Manege // Interfax. 2016. June 27.
• Accused of the pogrom in Manezh was released from house arrest // RIA Novosti. 2016. August 8.