The Moscow City Court returned the administrative case against a participant in a single picket for reconsideration

The Moscow City Court overturned the fine of 200 thousand rubles to environmental activist Konstantin Fokin under the article on repeated violation of the rules of participation in the action (Part 8 of Article 20.2 of the Administrative Code), which was imposed due to the action on May 29 in support of the arrested journalist Ilya Azar. This was reported by OVD-Info lawyer Ekaterina Selezneva, who defended Fokin in court.

The court returned the case for a new trial to the first instance - the Tagansky District Court of Moscow, which on July 15, 2020 found Fokin guilty. The case will have to be heard by another judge.

The Moscow City Court made this decision due to a procedural violation: in the first instance, the judge refused to grant the defense’s request to postpone the hearing due to Fokin’s illness.

The reason for initiating the case was a series of single pickets on May 29 near the headquarters of the Ministry of Internal Affairs on Petrovka Street in Moscow. On that day, the police detained 42 people because of the pickets, including Konstantin Fokin.

Environmental activist Konstantin Fokin regularly faces persecution from the state due to his participation in various public events. So, in December 2020 alone, he was detained due to three different actions: an attempt to write an inscription on a fence against the cutting down of the Kuntsevsky Park, a “sit-in picket” on Red Square with a “Stop Ecocide” poster, and an action in defense of an apple orchard on Slavyansky Boulevard in Moscow. . Due to the latest detention, Fokin was given administrative arrest for 10 days.

• On May 26, 2020, at 38 Petrovka, police detained Viktor Nemytov during a picket in support of the arrested creator of the “Police Ombudsman” public page, Vladimir Vorontsov. In connection with the action, Nemytov was sentenced to 15 days of administrative arrest. After Nemytov was detained, journalist Ilya Azar came out to Petrovka, 38 with a picket. The court sentenced him to 15 days.
• After the court decision in the Azar case, his colleagues and other activists, outraged by the behavior of police officers and representatives of the judiciary, began to picket in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Vologda and other cities to support peaceful protesters; some of the picketers also expressed solidarity with those involved in the Police Ombudsman case.