Court ruled out Sergei Mitrokhin guilty of disobeying
police orders. YABLOKO’s protest action
Press Release
August 3, 2010
Yesterday the court of the first instance ruled out that
Sergei Mitrokhin was guilty of disobeying police orders and
organization of unsanctioned rally in defence of the Khimki
Forest and sentenced to a fine RUR 500.
The court’s decision stated that Sergei Mitrokhin organized
an unsanctioned rally. When a policeman, according to the
court’s statement, came up to him, gave his name and politely
asked to leave the site of action, Mitrokhin refused to do
this disobeying the police.
The court included into the case a video material showing
only policemen taking Mitrokhin into the police car. Moreover
the video recording had been done from a long distance.
Also the court refused to include into the case the video
record of Mitrokhin’s detention made by YABLOKO’s Press Service.
The evidence from the defenders of the Khimki Forest who had
witnessed the detention were not taken into consideration.
However, the evidence from two policemen was taken into account,
moreover they were called “uninvolved persons”.
“Spending this day in Khimki I saw functioning of the judicial-police-prosecution
mafia which had been keeping in their tentacles the whole
district”, Mitrokhin said. “The police are lying, courts to
believe to these lies and public prosecutors cover all these
police actions,” he added.
At this moment YABLOKO is picketing by the Criminal Police
Department of the Moscow Region protesting against arbitrary
rule of the Khimki police. The activists are holding slogans
“Heads of the Khimki police to trial!”, “Put an end to arbitrary
rule by the Khimki police!”
YABLOKO also demands to file a criminal case in accordance
with Article 286 of the Criminal Code (abuse of power) against
the heads of the Khimki police and the policemen who participated
in the dispersing of the meeting and persecutions of the defenders
of the Khimki Forest.
