A court in St. Petersburg dismissed the cases of two more participants in the protest in memory of Boris Nemtsov

The Petrogradsky District Court of St. Petersburg dismissed administrative cases against participants in the action in memory of Boris Nemtsov, Mikhail Borisov and Alexei Bezrukov. This is reported by the "Apology of Protest" with reference to the defender Varvara Mikhailova.

During the first consideration of the case of Bezrukov, the Petrograd court did not find in his actions an offense under part 5 of article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (violation of the rules for participation in the action). Borisov's case was also terminated, but only after a second consideration in the Petrograd court. Earlier, this court found Borisov guilty of repeated violation of the rules for participation in a public event (part 8 of article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses) and appointed 80 hours of compulsory work, the Apology of Protest clarifies. On appeal, the St. Petersburg City Court overturned this decision and decided to send the case back for retrial to the court of first instance.

Both Bezrukov and Mikhailov were first charged by the police, and then by the court, for shouting the slogans “Russia will be free” and “Putin resign” during a rally in memory of Nemtsov: allegedly these statements did not correspond to the theme of the event.

• On September 10, it became known that terminated following participation in a rally in memory of Boris Nemtsov. the cases of Viasna activists Alexander Vereshchagin and Maksim Khalimovskiy were
• During May 2020, protocols were drawn up against seven participants in the agreed rally in memory of Nemtsov in St. Petersburg under the article on violation of the procedure for holding the rally (part 5 of article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses). On September 4, one of them was fined 10,000 rubles.
• On February 29, rallies in memory of Boris Nemtsov were held in 31 Russian cities, during which were detained 13 people . In St. Petersburg, during a coordinated procession, in which about 1,500 people took part, the police detained 8 participants in the action. The security forces explained their actions either by a complaint about an offense, without specifying the details, or by the inconsistency of the poster with the theme of the event.
• Boris Nemtsov, one of the leaders of the Solidarity movement and at that time a deputy of the Yaroslavl Regional Duma, was killed on February 27, 2015 in Moscow on the Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge. The killer and his accomplices were sentenced to terms of 11 to 20 years in a strict regime colony. The perpetrator of the crime has not yet been found. Every year, actions in memory of Nemtsov are held throughout Russia.