A court in Moscow fined a pensioner for a single picket

The Tverskoy District Court of Moscow fined Alexander Ushenko, a pensioner with many children, 5,000 rubles for a solitary picket near the city hall. This was told by OVD-Info lawyer Ekaterina Selezneva, who represented his interests in court.

Judge Bulgakova sentenced Ushenko to a lower punishment under part 5 of article 20.2 (violation of the rules for holding a public event), since he has a pension certificate and is a father of many children.

On June 19, Ushenko stood outside the Mayor’s Office holding a poster reading “Moscow’s large families live in communal apartments, waiting for social housing for 30 years. Meanwhile, Sobyanin is shifting granite tiles all over Moscow from winter to summer. About two minutes later, a policeman approached him. The law enforcement officer referred to Presidential Decree No. 202 and asked to remove the poster. The pensioner complied. After a while, a police car pulled up next to him. The police officer asked the pensioner to unfold the poster, after which he photographed Ushenko and took him to the police department. There, a protocol was drawn up against the pensioner under part 5 of article 20.2 (violation of the rules for holding a public event).

The appendix to the protocol stated that, despite the fact that single pickets do not require approval by law, Presidential Decree No. 202 decided to coordinate public events not related to the World Cup.

As OVD-Info lawyer Ekaterina Selezneva emphasizes, in reality, single pickets do not require approval, as she stated in court.

• Decree No. 202 introduced restrictions on the movement of citizens and on holding public events in the cities where the 2018 World Cup matches will be held.