Denis Bakholdin, accused of participating in hostilities in Donbass, had his arrest extended

The Sovetsky District Court of Bryansk extended until September 15 the arrest of Denis Bakholdin, accused of participating in the Right Sector volunteer battalion recognized as extremist during military operations in the Donbass. This was reported to OVD-Info by lawyer Svetlana Sidorkina, representing the interests of Bakholdin.

Sidorkina filed a complaint against Bakholdin's detention with the investigative committee and the prosecutor's office. In her opinion, the man is kept under arrest illegally, since he is charged with actions committed in 2015, which at that time were qualified as minor crimes. “We believe that since the crimes are of minor gravity, he should not have chosen a measure of restraint in the form of detention at all. But the arrest is extended and the crime is regarded as serious, although the episodes imputed to Bakholdin date back to 2015, and there is no other evidence of Bakholdin’s guilt in the case, ”she explained.

Earlier, the Bryansk Court of Appeal upheld the decision of the Soviet District Court of Bryansk to extend the arrest of Denis Bakholdin until August 29.

• Denis Bakholdin is a well-known person among the metropolitan activists, he participated in monthly actions in support of political prisoners within the framework of Strategy-6, in anti-war actions against the policy of the Russian authorities towards Ukraine.
• In March 2017, the police detained Denis Bakholdin. He was accused of participating in the "Right Sector", recognized as an extremist organization (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code). The activist said that after being detained, he was handcuffed to a radiator for 12 hours and beaten on his legs and head, demanding a confession.
  According to investigators, Bakholdin left for Ukraine in 2014, where he joined the Right Sector and took part in its activities.
• From the moment of his arrest until his transfer to Moscow, Bakholdin was temporarily held in a pre-trial detention center in Bryansk. On February 15, it became known that he was transferred to a special unit as “prone to escape”. In addition, the activist was accused of spreading extremist ideas among prisoners, without specifying what those ideas were.