In Moscow, a defendant in the “Case of the Army of the Will of the People,” RBC journalist Alexander Sokolov, filed a petition for early release with the Tverskoy District Court. this reports Interfax with reference to court press secretary Anastasia Dzyurko.
On August 10, 2017, the court sentenced Sokolov to three and a half years in a general regime colony under Part 1 of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code (organizing the activities of an extremist organization). Other defendants in the case - Valery Parfenov, Kirill Barabash, publicist Yuri Mukhin - were sentenced under the same article to terms of three and a half to four years in prison.
According to the investigation, within the framework of the activities of the IGPR “ZOV” (Initiative Group for Preparation of the Referendum “For Responsible Power”), they actually continued the activities of the banned “Army of the People’s Will” (AVN), “actively engaged in political activities, positioning themselves as opposition-minded persons to government bodies of the Russian Federation." The reason for recognizing the AVN as an extremist organization was the leaflet “You chose, you judge,” which called for evaluating the work of the authorities in national referendums.
According to SOVA, the persecution of IGPR “ZOV” activists specifically for this leaflet is unlawful:
The SOVA Center believes that the case of the IGPR “ZOV” activists in its current form should be terminated, and previous decisions based on an incorrect legal assessment of the leaflet should be revised. During the time required for this review, the three remaining detained activists of the IGPR “ZOV” must be released from arrest. We also believe that more serious claims may be brought against the leaders and, possibly, some activists of the IGPR “ZOV” - and they should be investigated.