"Memorial" recognized the person involved in the "March 26 case" Yuri Kuliy as a political prisoner

On June 6, the Memorial Human Rights Center recognized actor Yuri Kuliy as a political prisoner, sentenced to 8 months in a colony-settlement on charges of using violence against a policeman during a rally against corruption in Moscow on March 26.

Memorial considers the criminal case against Kuliy politically motivated, aimed at intimidating critics of the authorities, and demands his immediate release. One of the goals of initiating criminal cases against protesters is seen by Memorial as intimidation of potential protesters.

According to the position of the prosecution, Kuliy “grabbed by the hand, in the area of ​​the shoulder, the foreman of the OMON Dmitry Gavryutin in order to obstruct his lawful activities, which caused him physical pain.” At the same time, as Memorial notes, no injuries or bruises were recorded on the policeman, and only the victim Gavryutin's own testimony testifies to the pain that the policeman allegedly experienced.

"Memorial" believes that the police had no reason to prevent the participants of the rally on March 26 from expressing their opinion, since they did not show any aggression. In this regard, the human rights organization demands that officials responsible for violating the rights and freedoms of participants in the rally on Tverskaya be held accountable.

“The events of March 26 should also be assessed from the point of view of the possibility of legal opposition of citizens to the illegal actions of police officers. An attempt to wrest an illegally detained demonstrator from the hands of a policeman, which Yury Kuliy did, can, upon objective examination, be recognized as legal,” Memorial said in a statement.

"Memorial" also points out that law enforcement agencies are not investigating cases of violence used by the police against the protesters, they do not recognize them as victims.

In addition to Kuliy, four more people are accused in the “March 26 case”: Stanislav Zimovets, Alexander Shpakov, Andrey Kosykh and Dmitry Krepkin.