The ban on certain activities has been extended for two people involved in the Viasna case for another two months.

The Basmanny Court extended the ban on certain actions of the defendants in the Viasna case, Angelina Roshchupko and Timofey Vaskin, until March 11, 2023. This was reported by lawyers from OVD-Info Marina Dubrovina and Svetlana Sidorkina, who represent the interests of the defendants in the case.

Roshchupko and Vaskin are prohibited from leaving the house from eight in the evening to eight in the morning, communicating with other defendants in the case and supporters of “Viasna”. They are also prohibited from attending public events of the movement, sending and receiving postal and telegraphic items, using communications and the Internet, with the exception of the need to call emergency services.

Skat media journalist Angelina Roshchupko and public defender Timofey Vaskin claim that they were never members of the Spring movement. Roshchupko drew the court’s attention to the fact that she was not a member of the movement’s chats and is not in the joint photographs of activists attached to the case.

The case against “Viasna” under the article on participation in an NGO that infringes on the rights of citizens (Part 3 of Article 239 of the Criminal Code) was opened in early May, then security forces conducted mass searches of movement participants. According to the investigation, Viasna supporters posted calls on the Internet to participate in anti-war protests from February 25 to 27, which were not coordinated with the authorities, thereby inducing citizens to commit illegal actions.

Later it became known that another charge was added to the materials - under the article on inciting mass riots (Part 1.1 of Article 212 of the Criminal Code). According to preliminary information, this case was opened back in March.

In total, eight people are involved in the case. Not all of those involved are related to the Spring movement. Six who were in Russia at the time of the start of the investigative actions were chosen as a preventive measure in the form of a ban on certain actions - among them Angelina Roshchupko and Timofey Vaskin. Two defendants - Ivan Drobotov and Roman Maksimov - left Russia after the start of investigative actions. Also abroad are Bogdan Litvin, whom investigators consider the founder of the organization, and activist Ekaterina Goncharova.

On September 21, Vladimir Putin announced a “partial” mobilization, and protest movements immediately responded to this, including “Spring,” which called for protests against the president’s decision. After this, on the morning of September 24, the supporters of the opposition organization were again searched.

18:57 The Basmanny court also extended the ban on certain actions of Evgeny Zateev and Valentin Khoroshenin until March 11. This was reported by the First Department.

The conditions of the ban have been changed for activists: now they cannot leave the house from 21:00 to 8:00, and not from 20:00, as before.

On March 9, the Basmanny District Court extended the preventive measure for Evgeny Zateev and Valentin Khoroshenin for another two months, until May 11. This was reported by the First Department.

They also changed the conditions of the ban on certain actions: they are not allowed to leave the house from 10:00 pm to 7:00 am, as well as use any means of communication and communicate with “Spring” participants.

The news title has been changed due to new information.

• The youth movement “Spring” was founded in 2013 in St. Petersburg, then it appeared in other regions of Russia. Since the beginning of the war with Ukraine, members of the movement have actively participated in anti-war demonstrations. On May 9, they planned to hold the “They didn’t fight for this” action, joining the “Immortal Regiment” marches. In September, Viasna activists announced mass actions against the “partial” mobilization. After this, the St. Petersburg prosecutor’s office demanded that Vesna be recognized as an extremist organization; on December 6, the court granted the claim.
• Since February 24—the first day of the “special operation” in Ukraine—residents of Russian cities have been going out to anti-war rallies every day and talking about the tragedy online. Anti-war speeches and statements become grounds for criminal prosecution. At the moment, more than 360 people have become defendants in criminal cases initiated due to protest against the war with Ukraine. Read more about this in our guide .