News digest for August 9

The verdict of a participant in protests in support of Alexei Navalny, the story of a defendant in the Network case about torture during the investigation, and the departure of Lyubov Sobol from Russia. We tell you the main news for August 9.

• The defendant in the “palace case,” Alexander Federyakov, was sentenced to one and a half years in prison. He was found guilty of using violence against a government official at the rally on January 23. The interests of the accused were represented in court by lawyer from OVD-Info Nikolai Fomin.
• Ivan Punegov, a defendant in the “palace case” from St. Petersburg, had his arrestextended until January. The investigation believes that at the rally on April 21, a man “grabbed and squeezed the neck” of a police officer with both hands.
• Anti-fascist Igor Shishkin, who spent three and a half years in a colony in connection with the Network case, spoke about torture during detention and investigation. After his release, he left Russia and asked for political asylum in Europe.
• Navalny's ally Lyubov Sobol left Russia. On August 3, the court sentenced her to a year and a half of restriction of freedom as part of a “sanitary case.” The activist left the country before the sentence came into force.
• Actionist Pavel Krisevich's arrest was extended for a month. The preventive measure was chosen for him as part of a case initiated due to a performance in support of political prisoners - Krisevich shot himself in the head with noise cartridges on Red Square.
• The Investigative Committee referred to the court the cases against residents of the Irkutsk region Artem Bulachev and Ruslan Z., who are charged with the desecration of symbols of Russian military glory. According to investigators, the accused uploaded photographs of General Vlasov to the website for broadcasting the “Immortal Regiment” in 2020.
• Muslim Ildar Abdurakhmanov from Neftekamsk, who is accused of involvement in the At-Takfir wal-Hijra organization banned in Russia, was sent to a pre-trial detention center. He claims that he incriminated himself due to torture and threats from security forces.
• The cases of Jehovah's Witnesses from the Krasnodar Territory, Alexander Nikolaev and Vasily Meleshko, were sent to court. Believers are accused of participating in the activities of an extremist organization. Their co-religionists from Crimea were searched. One of them, Alexander Litvinyuk, was placed under house arrest due to a case of organizing the activities of an extremist organization.
• Defender of OVD-Info Daria Aksenova achieved the cancellation of the decision on the administrative fine that was imposed on the participant of the rally on January 23 in Moscow. The case was sent for a new trial.