Sergei Mitrokhin fined for the action in defence of the Russian Consitution
Press Release, 9.02.2016
Today Judge of the Tverskoi District Court, Moscow, has ruled out that Sergei Mitrokhin, Chair of the Moscow YABLOKO and member of YABLOKO’s Federal Political Committee, who was detained at the rally in defense of the Constitution, was guilty of violation of Paragraph 5 of Article 20.2 of the Administrative Code and sentenced to a fine amounting to 15,000 roubles.
Sergei Mitrokhin’s lawyer Boris Mamatov says that the verdict will be appealed to a court of a higher instance.
Chairman of the Moscow YABLOKO Sergei Mitrokhin was arrested on 12 December during a one-person picket in defense of the Russian Constitution, together with several members of the party. He was holding a poster, repeating the slogan with which the Soviet human rights activists came to this Moscow square 50 years ago, on 5 December, 1965 – “Respect Our Constitution!”. YABLOKO activists were replacing each other in the picket, passing the poster from hand to hand. Thus, the action could not be considered a mass action. Also it should be noted that accoring to the Russian law, one-person pickets do not require any approval from the authorities.
Andrei Babushkin, member of the Presidential Council on Civil Society and Human Rights, spread a statement where he called the cases agaist Mitrokhin and other activists unlawful.
Posted: February 9th, 2016 under Freedom of Assembly, Human Rights.