A defense lawyer was not allowed to see the person detained during the July 27 rally.

In the Golovinsky District Court, OVD-Info defense attorney Maria Krasova was not allowed to see Georgy Radugin, who was detained at a rally on July 27 in support of independent candidates in the elections. Krasova herself reported this to OVD-Info.

“A group of guys who knew each other came to the trial, I represented one of them. His friend Georgiy, whom I didn’t know about, was supposed to go next. I asked if he had a representative. He said no, but he needs help,” says the defender.

As they began to discuss the defense strategy, the judge walked past them and, on her way to the courtroom, overheard this conversation. Krasova handed Radugin her passport so that he could write an application for the defense attorney to be allowed to attend the hearing.

The judge eventually ordered Krasova to be removed from the courtroom without explaining the reason for this decision. As a result of the meeting, Radugin was sentenced to 20 hours of corrective labor under the article on the participant’s violation of the procedure for holding an action (Part 5 of Article 20.2 of the Administrative Code).

• On July 27, a rally against the exclusion of candidates from the Moscow City Duma elections took place in the center of Moscow. According to OVD-Info, 1,373 people were detained at the protest. At least 265 people spent the night in police departments.