The court refused to release on parole the defendant in the “Moscow case” Ivan Podkopaev

The Sukhinichi District Court of the Kaluga Region refused to release on parole the defendant in the “Moscow case” Ivan Podkopaev. This was reported by OVD-Info.

According to the lawyer of the human rights project, Alexander Borkov, one of the reasons for the refusal was that Podkopaev was not immediately employed at IK-5 in the Kaluga region. “They simply don’t have work there. And he just sat there, waiting for a permanent position to appear,” Borkov said.

The lawyer emphasized that the colony administration provided the court with a positive reference for Podkopaev, but this did not contribute to his release.

At the rally on July 27, 2019, technician Ivan Podkopaev, hiding his face with a balaclava, sprayed a gas canister towards the security forces, causing two National Guardsmen to receive chemical burns to their eyes, the prosecution alleged. At first, Podkopaev admitted to using violence against government officials (Part 1 of Article 318 of the Criminal Code), but then changed his defense lawyer and refused to admit guilt.

In September 2019, Podkopaev was sentenced to three years in prison, but after refusing to admit guilt, the punishment was reduced to two years in prison.