The Irkutsk administration refused to approve a rally in support of those involved in the Network case, reports Siberia. MBH Media" with reference to the representative of the local Union of Marxists Andrei Kalinkin.

According to Kalinkin, the authorities refused to coordinate the rally announced for March 1 at all five sites, citing the celebration of Maslenitsa and preparations for the World Hockey Championship. Activists were asked to postpone the rally to March 10.

“On our part, everything has been done to reach an agreement. The action will take place in any case, if not in the format of a rally, then in another mass form that does not require approval. Plus, we will still hold an agreed rally. Plus, we’ll go to court,” the publication quotes Andrey Kalinkin’s comment.

On February 10, 2020, a court in Penza announced the verdict to those accused of creating the “terrorist community “Network”; the defendants in the case received sentences of up to 18 years.
The defendants in the case, including Shakursky, Pchelintsev, Chernov and Sagynbaev, alleged psychological pressure, electric shock, beatings and planted weapons. Some of them retracted the confessions they gave in the first days after the arrests. OVD-Info spoke in detail about each person involved in the case.
A criminal case against the “terrorist community “Network” was opened in October 2017. According to the FSB, 11 young people in Penza and St. Petersburg organized the terrorist community “Network” and were planning to overthrow the government.

In Irkutsk, a rally in support of those involved in the “Network” case was not approved - at any of the five sites