The Moscow City Court left the defendants in the “Left Bloc” case in pre-trial detention center

The Moscow City Court approved the extension of the arrest of Left Bloc activists Lev Skoryakin and Ruslan Abasov. This was reported by lawyer Alexander Salamov, who collaborates with OVD-Info and represents Abasov’s interests.

The activists are accused of hooliganism committed by a group of people in a preliminary conspiracy with the use of weapons (Part 2 of Article 213 of the Criminal Code), due to an action with a banner and fireworks near the FSB building. Abasov is also charged with vandalism (Part 1 of Article 214 of the Criminal Code).

The young peoplewere detained in December 2021; in February 2022, the court extended their detention until March 28. The court has now confirmed this decision.

According to investigators, on December 20, 2021, activists, together with unidentified persons, “placed a banner with the inscription “Happy ChKist Day” on the fence <...> of the [FSB] building, after which, using an unidentified object (a fire) as a weapon, they lit it and threw it away one of them through the fence into the territory of the specified building.”

• The “Happy Chkist Day” campaign took place on the morning of December 20, 2021. At the FSB department for the South-Western District of Moscow, two people with their faces covered unfurled a banner with the inscription “Happy ChKist Day”, illuminating it with flares.
• Lev Skoryakin was repeatedly detained at protests - at a rally in support of Alexei Navalny on January 31, 2021 , at the US Embassy for trying to hang a “Justice for Floyd” banner on June 3, 2020 , after a rally in defense of those involved in the Network case in May 2019 and on actions against raising the retirement age in August 2018 . After being detained at the embassy, ​​Skoryakin’s face was smashed at the police station. In connection with his participation in a rally in support of Navalny in January, the activist was arrested for 30 days, after which he was expelled from the university, they write in the Telegram channel of the Left Bloc.