A Moscow court fined a Dozhd journalist for a solo picket in support of journalist Ilya Azar

The judge of the Zamoskvoretsky District Court of Moscow, Yulia Varankina, fined Mikhail Fishman, a journalist from the Dozhd publication, 10,000 rubles for a solitary picket near the building of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. About this "Rain" reports on its website.

Fishman was fined under an article on violation of the rules for participation in a public event (part 5 of article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses). The reason for the fine was a one-man picket on May 28 in support of journalist Ilya Azar, who was arrested for a one-man picket.

The police decided that Fishman was participating in a "covert form of collective public event". The pickets on May 28 were allegedly united by a common idea, so they were considered one event. The court agreed with the police.

The Plenum of the Supreme Court in 2018 clarified that several single pickets can indeed be recognized as one action, but listed a number of conditions that must be established during the consideration of the case.

According to the Supreme Court, single pickets can be considered a mass event only if the pickets:

• clearly enough united by unity of purpose and common organization;
• are held simultaneously and territorially gravitate to each other;
• their participants use associatively recognizable or identical visual means of agitation and put forward common demands and appeals.

It is not known why the court considered that all these conditions were met in the case of Mikhail Fishman: the ruling has not yet been published on the court's website.

October 9 Judge Khomyakova of the Moscow City Court on October 8 upheld the decision of the court of first instance on a fine of 10,000 rubles to Dozhd journalist Mikhail Fishman. He wrote about this on his Facebook.

To the request of the court to the police department, in connection with which they concluded that there was a single organization of pickets, “The police department finally answered this way: because besides Fishman, such and such people were detained there,” the journalist writes.

• Novaya Gazeta journalist and municipal deputy of the Khamovniki district Ilya Azar was arrested on May 28 for 15 days for picketing in support of the author of the Police Ombudsman. He was found guilty of repeated violation of the rules of the action (part 8 of article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses).
• On the same day, journalists and activists came out in support of Ilya Azar. In Moscow and St. Petersburg, 22 people were detained. They drew up protocols on violation of the self-isolation regime and violation of the rules for participation in the action. Two were left overnight before trial at the police departments.