Press Release, 6.04.2021

Photo: Ivan Krisanov / Photo by the Press Service of the Ivanovo branch of Yabloko

On 5 April, the Ivanovo Regional Court considered an appeal against the ruling of the Oktyabrsky District Court against Ivan Krisanov, a member of the Bureau of the Ivanovo regional branch of the Yabloko party.

In February the court of the first instance imposed a fine on Krisanov in the amount of 20,000 roubles for allegedly exceeding the permissible number of participants in a rally in defence of political prisoners organised by Krisanov in Ivanovo’s “Hyde Park” [a specially designated place in the city where rallies and meetings can be held without any permissions from the authorities] on 31 January.

During the trial in the Regional Court, it was established that the police did not prove the actual number of participants in the public event. In addition, when imposing a fine, the court of the first instance did not take into account the legal positions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation that the exceeding of the maximum number of protesters envisaged by law in a specially designated place (Hyde Park) does not constitute an administrative offense. This requires a combination of at least two factors: the presence of a public danger or a threat to the life or health of the people who gathered for the event.

The court heeded the arguments of the defence and canceled the decision of the Oktyabrsky District Court for lack of corpus delicti, and the proceedings on the case were terminated.

The interests of Ivan Krisanov were represented in court by Maxim Nikonov, a well-known Ivanovo lawyer and Director of the legal department of the Constanta-Holding Group of companies. The Ivanovo branch of Yabloko expresses its gratitude to the lawyers!