The Moscow City Court canceled the fine for the banner “Putin is war”

On July 28, the Moscow City Court overturned the decision of the Meshchansky District Court to fine activist Ekaterina Ryzhova for the banner “Putin is war.” Denis Shedov, lawyer of the Human Rights Center "Memorial", told OVD-Info about this.

Ryzhova was fined 15,000 rubles in April for hanging a banner on a bridge on Komsomolskaya Square. A protocol was drawn up against her on violation of the procedure for holding public events. Judge of the Meshchansky District Court Elena Karakeshisheva did not accept the arguments of defense counsel Sergei Sharov-Delaunay that the hanging of a banner does not fall under the definition of any of the types of events described in federal law No. 54 “On meetings, rallies, demonstrations, marches and picketing.”

Judge Karakeshisheva did not take into account another circumstance that became decisive for the decision of the appellate instance: she ignored the fact that Ekaterina Ryzhova is a voting member of the precinct election commission, which means that the sanction of the prosecutor is necessary for her administrative prosecution. The judge was shown Ryzhova's ID, but she ignored it.

The Moscow City Court sent Ryzhova's case back to the court of first instance.

Together with Ryzhova, Pavel Kuznetsov and Nikolai Igorov were detained for the banner. The latter did not appear at the Meshchansky Court, and the amount of the fine imposed on him is unknown. And Kuznetsov was fined 150,000 rubles, because a protocol was drawn up against him on repeated violation of the procedure for holding public events.