The Irkutsk court discontinued proceedings in the case of an anarchist detained because of “Monstration”

The Kirovsky District Court of Irkutsk terminated the proceedings on the administrative case of anarchist Sofia Bazhenova due to the lack of corpus delicti. This was reported to OVD-Info by the lawyer of the Public Verdict Foundation, Svyatoslav Khromenkov, who represents the interests of the activist.

Bazhenova was accused under Part 2 of Article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (holding a public event without filing a notice) because of the May Day “Monstration”.

Khromenkov said that the court dismissed the case due to numerous procedural violations by the police, and also made a submission to the head of the department.

According to the lawyer, the court drew attention to the fact that the police drew up the first report with errors, namely, they incorrectly qualified the article, accusing Bazhenova of disobeying the lawful demands of the police (Article 19.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses). The Oktyabrsky District Court returned this protocol to the police.

Then a protocol was drawn up against the activist under Part 2 of Article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, but the court returned the case back to the department three times.

• Sofia Bazhenova was detained on the morning of June 21 on the way to the city of Tulun, when she was driving a passing car to visit. Then she was immediately taken to the Kirovsky District Court.
• On June 14, Bazhenova and anarchist Igor Martynenko were detained when they were returning from a holiday. The police said that the activists were avoiding drawing up protocols for holding an unapproved rally on May 1. After the detainees were taken to police station No. 5, where they were left for the night.
• On June 18, the Oktyabrsky District Court fined Martynenko 25 thousand rubles under the article on holding an event without filing a notice (part 2 of article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses) because of the May Day “Monstration”.