The court arrested a participant in a rally against the “self-isolation regime” in Vladikavkaz on charges of organizing hooliganism

The Leninsky District Court of Vladikavkaz arrested until June 21 a participant in the gathering against the “self-isolation regime,” Ramis Chirkinov, on charges of hooliganism. This was reported to Mediazona by the human rights project “Apology of Protest” with reference to lawyer Sergei Denisenko.

As stated in the court ruling (available to Mediazona), the investigator believes that Chirkinov is a “key figure” in the case.

The protester is accused of organizing hooliganism (Part 3, Article 33, Article 213 of the Criminal Code). The investigation claims that Chirkinov was in a telegram chat of supporters of the opera singer Vadim Cheldiev, where he “requested, controlled and analyzed information about the number of people who agreed to take part in the rally.” According to the Investigative Committee, the accused during the rally incited protesters to demand the resignation of the regional government and the head of the republic, Vyacheslav Bitarov.

Earlier, Chirkinov was detained at a rally against the “self-isolation regime.” The action took place on April 20 in the central square of Vladikavkaz. Those gathered demanded clearer information about the epidemiological situation in the region and the release of blogger Cheldiev, accused of spreading fake news about coronavirus (Article 207.1 of the Criminal Code) and using violence against an operative of Center “E” (Part 1 of Article 318 of the Criminal Code).

Two days after the rally, the Investigative Committee opened a case on the use of violence against security forces (Article 318 of the Criminal Code), as well as hooliganism associated with resistance to a government official (Part 2 of Article 213 of the Criminal Code).