Translated material
A protest participant in support of Oleg Sentsov was detained in Nizhny Novgorod
In Nizhny Novgorod on June 3, police detained Gleb Kalinichev, a participant in a series of single pickets in support of Ukrainian director Oleg Sentsov. This was reported on the Facebook page of the Democratic Nizhny Novgorod coalition.
Kalinichev was taken to the 5th police department of Nizhny Novgorod, where he was kept for several hours and then released without a protocol. The activist was required to appear in court. However, police officers did not provide details of the administrative case that will be considered in court. The Facebook page of the Nizhny Novgorod Political Red Cross says that Kalinichev was detained due to his failure to appear in court, although he did not receive a summons. It is also reported there that he is charged with Part 8 of Article 20.2 of the Administrative Code (repeated violation of the procedure for holding a public event).
UPD June 5 11:15 Later, OVD-Info managed to contact Kalinichev. According to him, the police informed him that he was on the regional wanted list by decision of the judge of the Nizhny Novgorod District Court Gleb Sveshnikov due to the fact that he did not appear at the court hearing. Before Kalinichev was released, he was told that they would call him about the court hearing.
- Earlier in September 2017, after a rally in support of Navalny, a protocol was drawn up against Kalinichev under Part 5 of Article 20.2 of the Administrative Code (violation of the procedure for holding a public event). On March 13, he was arrested for 20 days under Part 8 of Article 20.2 of the Administrative Code for the “funeral of elections” performance.
- In Russian cities, rallies and pickets are being held in support of director Oleg Sentsov and anarchist Alexander Kolchenko, sentenced to 20 and 10 years in a maximum security colony, respectively. Since May 14, Sentsov has been on an indefinite hunger strike demanding the release of 64 Ukrainian political prisoners in Russia. On May 31, Kolchenko also went on a hunger strike.
- On May 2, director Mikhail Mestetsky was detained on Pushkin Square, holding a picket in support of Sentsov. The police motivated the director's detention by violating Presidential Decree No. 202 on restricting the right to freedom of assembly in Russia during the FIFA World Cup.
- On May 3, the Petrogradsky District Court arrested Asan Mumdzhi of St. Petersburg for 9 days, who was detained on May 2 at the courthouse with the flag of Ukraine and a poster in support of Sentsov. Mumdzhi was found guilty of organizing an unapproved public event (Part 2 of Article 20.2 of the Administrative Code).
- Olga Smirnova and Maria Kozhevatova were detained along with Mumdzhi. A protocol was drawn up against the latter under Part 8 of Article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offences. On May 3, Kozhevatova was arrested for 15 days, after which she went on a hunger strike.