The Bolotnaya case

The Bolotnaya case
No. 4 (August 19 - 25)
digest
august 20 - august 22
Trial of the Twelve
Song of the Victims: physical pain and memory lapses.
The entire week was devoted to victim
testimony. Two police officers: Denis
Moiseyev and Denis Kuvatov took
the stand.
To remind the readers, testimony of
police officer Denis Moiseyev, who was
a company chief with the second
regiment of the Main Department of
Internal Affairs of Moscow on
May 6 2012, began last Thursday.
Moiseev was found to be a victim of
Sergei Krivov. According to the
indictment, Krivov pushed Moiseyev
Sergey Krivov and Denis Moiseev: no police sign visible
in the chest with his hands, thus
Screen from Nevex.tv video
causing “physical pain”. The victim
declared that he lost his balance and even “made a step back or to the side”.
Moiseyev further insisted that on May 6 2012 all police officers wore chest badges. When
shown a photo of himself without a chest badge, Moisyev said that he had forgotten, and that
some of the police officers may not have worn chest badges that day, and that he does not
remember such minute details. In Moiseyev’s opinion, a police uniform is sufficient for citizens
to recognize police officers and obey their orders.
Moiseyev was not able to point out his location at the time violence was used against him.
However, all defence motions to examine the map of Bolotnaya Square were denied by
judge Nikishina.
Krivov tried to ascertain whether Moiseyev provided his interrogation answers from notes.
Moiseev claimed that he did not, and that he spoke from memory. It remains unclear why his
interrogation protocols from different dates contained the same number of words and
grammatical errors.
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Krivov's attorney Vyacheslav Makarov made a motion to exclude Moiseyev from the list of
victims, since he did not seek medical attention after suffering “physical pain”.
The motion was denied.
Krivov or Stupak?
On Tuesday, August 20 Krivov and his attorney
Makarov suddenly announced that Denis
Moiseyev was in fact determined to be a victim
of another person - Yury Stupak. This
determination was issued on October 4, 2012,
and was signed by Moiseev himself. Thus,
Moiseev admitted that his pain injury was caused
by Stupak, while in court he testified that Krivov
was the culprit.
Sergei Krivov was arrested in connection with
Bolotnaya case only on October 18.
Based on apparent contradictions in testimony,
Police officer Denis Moiseyev trying to recall
Makarov and Krivov made a motion for the
what did he say last time, photo by A.Baroshin
corresponding pages from the case to be read
out in court. Prosecutor Strekalova replied that there were no significant contradictions.
Judge Nikishina denied the motion.
The shouts of “Shame!” were heard in the courtroom, and bailiffs ejected some of the
observers. Vladimir Akimenkov, Artem Savelov, Stepan Zimin, Sergei Krivov, Maria Baronova,
and Alexei Polikhovich temporarily refused to participate in the trial.
Long-long testimony
Moiseev’s testimony continued the next day. Moiseev saw demonstrators throwing shoes, but
did not see anyone walking barefoot or fetching an extra pair of shoes. Moiseev had never seen
investigator Gurkin, but Gurkin identified him in the video, in which Moiseev was detaining
a citizen in a blue jacket. Moiseev was not involved in detentions at all, as this was not a part of
his duties, but nevertheless was detaining a citizen in the blue jacket. And so on.
Numerous questions were rejected by the judge. Whose order or directive led to removal of
chest badges by police? How can Moiseev deny using force against protesters, when video
evidence clearly shows him delivering blows to a detained demonstrator? Does Moiseev
expect to be promoted after the trial, and does he know that he could retract deliberately false
testimony before the verdict, without any facing any consequences? Is he prepared to meet
Yuriy Stupak, whose victim he was officially recognized as?
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Finally, Denis Moiseev was allowed to go home.
On Thursday, August 22 Krivov began with
statements about crimes committed: first, by
Moiseev, who used violence against
demonstrators on Bolotnaya Square; second,
by investigator Ermilov, who filed two
completely identical interrogation protocols
marked with different dates, which constitutes
evidence tampering. The judge stated that she
does not initiate criminal prosecution, and
suggested appealing to The Investigative
Committee or the Attorney General’s office.
Sergey Krivov being escorted in the court
Photo by A.Baroshin
Krivov stated once more, that the interrogation protocols were identical, and that initially
Moiseev was recognized as a victim of Stupak; that he was recognized as victim only on the
basis of his verbal statements about physical pain; that Moiseev’s signatures on the decree of
recognizing him as a victim did not look like his other signatures; that Moiseev himself testified
that he had not been interrogated in the fall of 2012, while the first interrogation protocol was
dated May 19, 2013. The judge, once again, not only refused to treat these interrogation
protocols as inadmissible evidence, but allowed them to be read out in courtroom.
It could not have been known beforehand if Moiseev was to be interrogated. However, on the
morning of the first day of testimony, a special podium had been erected in the courtroom.
Krivov called for a stop in collusion between the judge and the prosecution, and filed another
futile challenge against the judge.
Kuvatov and his twisted finger
On Thursday afternoon, a Moscow OMON
(special police force) officer Denis Kuvatov
began his testimony. According to Kuvatov,
he arrested Zimin and saw him throwing
chunks of asphalt. Furthermore, Kuvatov
sustained a closed fracture of a finger on his
right hand after being hit by an asphalt
chunk thrown by Zimin.
The case includes and expert evaluation,
stating that the fracture of the police officer’s
finger was caused by a twisting motion.
Doctors state that the fracture could not
have been the result of a strike by a hard
object.
Police officer Denis Kuvatov on the trial
Photo by NovayaGazeta.ru
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Denis Kuvatov has painted another contradictory picture. The protesters acted aggressively
and tried to pull police officers into the crowd. Stepan Zimin was into the middle of the dense
crowd, there was a stampede, but he could freely move around and attempt to pull police
officers into the crowd. Furthermore, Zimin was in an “aggressive mood” and while being
arrested “wriggled, and attempted to escape”.
It was unclear to the defense how a person with a broken finger was able to arrest a “wriggling”
Zimin (Zimin is nearly 2 meters tall, while Kuvatov is much shorter). Kuvatov took a pause and
answered: “I grabbed with my other fingers”.
The microphone, into which Kuvatov was speaking, started buzzing. Maria Baronova’s lawyer
Maxim Badamshin asked: “Your Honour, please tell the witness to put away the mobile phone,
and the prosecutor to stop sending him text messages”. Kuvatov put the phone away without
a word, and the prosecutor smiled.
Kuvatov’s testimony will continue next week.
The week of birthdays
august 21
Maxim Luzyanin turns 37
So far Maxim Luzyanin is the only person
found guilty of taking part in Bolotnaya
Square ”mass riots” and assaulting police
officers. He is also the only Bolotnaya case
defendant to plead guilty to these charges
(the second person convicted in Bolotnaya
case was Konstantin Lebedev, who
admitted to organising the mass riots).
By pleading guilty to all charges (however
inaccurate), and paying damages to the
Maxim Luzyanin shortly after his arrest police (real or not), Maxim was hoped
scars from rough arrest are clearly visible
to earn a reduced or suspended sentence.
However, despite his desire to reunite with his family, Maxim refused to testify against others.
While accepting all the charges against himself, Luzyanin consistently stated that he was
acting on his own.
Luzyanin was sentenced to 4.5 years in a medium-security prison and is now serving his
sentence in Novomoskovsk, Tula Oblast. The verdict was read out by judge Fedin of
Zamoskvoretsky Moscow District Court. Later Mosgorsud (a higher court) confirmed
the verdict.
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Luzyanin is married, has a teenage son, lives a healthy lifestyle, is a bodybuilder and owns
a fitness club. Relatives state that Maxim’s relationship with his son is more like “brotherhood”.
Luzyanin helped the local orthodox eparchy and also assisted in opening a dance and sport
studio in a village not far away from Podolsk.
Luzyanin’s prison term runs until November 2016. He will be eligible for parole after serving
half of his sentence.
Luzyanin’s trial
Since Luzyanin made an initial guilty plea, his
trial was conducted under special processing
rules, without much scrutiny of evidence.
The defendant is eligible for special
processing rules in case of complete
admission of guilt. In such cases, the prison
term cannot exceed two thirds of the
maximum, allowed by law.
The prosecution claimed that Luzyanin had
injured five policemen – one had his helmet
Maxim Luzyanin during the trial
smashed through with a piece of asphalt, the
Photo by RIA Novosti/S.Kuznetsov
other four were beaten. Luzyanin has covered
one victim’s (private Prokhorov) expenses for the restoration of his chipped tooth enamel.
Luzyanin has identified himself as a masked muscular male seen on the video presented as e
vidence. The man on the video is violent towards the police at certain moments, but it is
practically impossible to prove or disprove the charges, or to count the real number of illegal
acts without conducting a quality
independent analysis of the evidence.
Even if Luzyanin had indeed assaulted one
or more policemen, that alone does not
make him guilty of participating in mass
riots. At present time, all other Bolotnaya
case defendants (excluding Lebedev),
their lawyers, the May 6 Committee, and
the Presidential Human Rights
Commission – all agree that only isolated
clashes with police took place on
Bolotnaya Square, and these events
cannot be qualified as mass riots.
Maxim Luzyanin during at the Bolotnaya Square on May 6, 2012
Photo by Grani.ru
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Still, all the damages inflicted, according to prosecution, by protesters at Bolotnaya Square
were included in Luzyanin’s case: the loss of 20 helmets, 14 bulletproof vests, 29 batons and
other anti-riot gear by Moscow police, 28 million roubles worth of damage to square asphalt
(est. $850,000) and to portable toilets (73 thousand roubles or $2,200). By merely being present
at Bolotnaya Square, Luzyanin became responsible for the entirety of the damage, and hence
for the mass riots themselves.
Despite the guilty plea, positive references, and reaching a settlement with the victims, the
sentence Luzyanin received was neither suspended nor short. “If only he knew the outcome,
he would have never pleaded guilty. Let this be a lesson for others – this is what you get if you
cooperate with the investigation” – Luzyanin’s friends and relatives were reportedly saying
after the trial.
Since the case was heard under special processing rules (the trial only included the sentencing
phase, and the charges were not contested), the result cannot be used as precedent in trials
of other defendants. Still the verdict was already included in Mikhail Kosenko’s case materials.
He is charged with assaulting private Kazmin together with Luzyanin. It remains to be seen if
Luzyanin’s case will be illegally used to bolster the argument that mass riots took place (based
on Luzyanin’s admission). The possibility certainly exists.
august 22
Ilya Guschin turns 25
Ilya Guschin has remained in detention since
February 2013. He is charged with a police officer’s
clothing to interfere with detention of a rally
participant. Ilya admitted to having tried to drag
a police officer who was bludgeoning a man fallen
to the ground away from his victim.
A video recording of this episode can be found here:
http://grani.ru/blogs/free/entries/211382.html.
The investigation classified Guschin's wrongdoing in
typical fashion: participation in mass riots and
assault against a police officer.
Ilya holds the “national-democrat” political views.
He was a student of Psychology at Moscow City
Psychological-Pedagogical University, on sabbatical
at the time of arrest. He lived with his mother in a
Moscow suburb of Khimki.
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Ilya Guschin
Last employed as shop assistant at a household appliances store, Ilya was fond of football and
for three years worked as analyst in "Moskva" football club. He was interested in historical
fiction and traveled by hitch-hiking (the latter elevated his flight risk in the eyes of the
investigation, and was used as an argument for his detention).
august 24
Alexandra Naumova (Dukhanina) turns 20
Alexandra (Sasha) was the first to be arrested in
connection with the Bolotnaya case. At the time
of arrest she was 18. Alexandra did evade the
authorities, while for a few weeks continuing to
actively participate in street protests (“Occupy
Abay” and others). At the end of May 2012 she
was arrested at an opposition camp on Arbat
Street. Since then the young woman has been
under house arrest. She is not allowed to use
telephone or the Internet, leave the apartment
without police permission, receive letters, or make
statements to the press.
The investigation has collected 15 video
fragments that show a young woman who looks
Alexandra in the court
photo by A.Baroshin
like Alexandra Dukhanina. Some of the video
fragments are complete duplicates, while others show the same event from different angles.
In the video the young woman is seen to be running forward and throwing various objects.
In one instance, she splashes a soft drink from a bottle. According to the prosecution,
Dukhanina threw chunks of asphalt no less than 8 times, and one of the chunks hit a police
officer in the shoulder, leaving a bruise. None of the videos show the asphalt chunks hitting
a police officer or causing any other damage.
Like most of the defendants, Alexandra is charged with participating in mass riots and
assaulting a police officer.
Prior to her arrest, Dukhanina was studying at the Moscow State University School of
Translation and Interpretation, specializing in German. She defended the Tsagovsky forest not
far from Moscow, was helping stray dogs, and wanted to work as an administrator at a Krishna
Center. Sasha is a vegetarian, does not drink, and was an active participant in the “Food instead
of Bombs” food drive for the homeless.
When participating in opposition street camps just prior to her arrest, Sasha met Artem
Naumov. They fell in love and got married a month ago. On second attempt, Alexandra (now
Naumova) was able to obtain court permission to serve her house arrest at the husband’s
apartment.
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ATTENTION!
You can write letters to Bolotnaya defendants. Words of support are very important to them.
You can write to [email protected], please do not forget to write your name and the
name of the intended recipient. We will translate your letters from English to Russian, and
forward them to the defendants held in detention facilities. We also can hand your messages
to relatives of the defendants who are held under house arrest. Unfortunately, at the moment
we can only accommodate translations from English.
We can also assist in contacting people involved with the trial, who are under a travel ban or
have emigrated. Feel free to reach out to them directly as well! :-)
august 22
Lyudmila Alekseyeva: “There will be no show trial.
It has been thwarted by the defendants”
During her speech at the rally, dedicated to the events of
1991 (defeat of the GKChP coup), the head of the Moscow
Helsinki Group Lyudmila Alekseyeva called for maximum
attendance of the Bolotnaya hearings.
“…I attend the court hearings of the May 6 prisoners all the
time. These are young people, who were randomly snatched
from the protest of many thousands… After that rally, they
did not expect to find themselves in prison with a prospect
of long prison sentences. This is an unexpected situation,
and they are holding up well, without fear. They are heroes,
no less so than those who defended the White House
in 1991.
Lyudmila Alekseyeva in the court
photo by A.Baroshin
This trial was intended as a show trial, mimicking Stalin’s
trials, where defendants were ‘broken’, where they ‘repented’, where they ‘condemned’ their
own actions, where everybody was ‘outraged’… Now we can say, that they did not get a show
trial. It has been thwarted by the defendants. Because they are not going to repent and beg
for freedom, instead they fight for their and our freedom.
Now we need to make sure, that this shameful trial becomes the show trial of those, who have
staged it. The defendants cannot do this, only we, the Moscovites, who took to the streets in
1991 can do this. Those, who attend the protest rallies today, those who are not indifferent to
their own future, and the future of their children, can do this.
There is only one very straightforward way of achieving this: mass rejection of this trial.
Perhaps not tens of thousands, but at least thousands should come to this court building,
where these kids are on trial for nothing…”
The full text of Lyudmila Alekseyeva’s speech in Russian can be found here:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=672451519433550
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What is the case of Bolotnaya?
May 6, 2012 on the eve of the third inauguration
of Vladimir Putin the opposition got an approval
from Moscow authorities to hol a march on the
Bolshaya Yakimanka and a rally in Bolotnaya square
for 5,000 people. In reality, about 50,000 people
came to the demonstration.
Peaceful march at the entrance to Bolotnaya square
ran into a police chain, which had made the
passage to the place of a rally extremely narrow.
After an hour of standing in the rising hustle, people
broke through the chain. Police launched arrests
with the use of batons, pain and choke holds.
Around this time, an unknown person threw a
Molotov cocktail, causing the pants of one of the
demonstrators started burning.
Arrests and beatings occurred in a random order.
Sergei Krivov is being beaten by the police
Most of the demonstrators could not leave the
at the Bolotnaya square, May 6, 2012
Bolotnaya square, as it is located on the bank of
the river, and the bridge was crowded with people. People tried to fight back, usually, in
adequate and non-hazardous ways (like throwing empty plastic bottles). There were,
however, occasional outbreaks of serious aggression against the police: for example,
several people took off ammo of a policeman and punched him.
About 600 people have been arrested, dozens were subjected to administrative arrest.
The investigation classified the incident as organized riots.
Only one of the accused of involvement in the riots, Maxim Lusyanin, hoping for a light
sentence, admitted his guilt (heproved himself of being himself in an big strong man in a black
mask, who was beating a policeman) and received 4.5 years of general regime penal colony.
Now 15 people are under arrest in charge of involvement in the riots, two are under house
arrest, 6 people are under written undertaking not to leave the place (4 of which were not
even at Bolotnaya Square on the May 6, and were detained at another opposition campaign
on Manezhnaya Square). An activist of the "Solidarity" movement Anastasia Rybachenko left
Russia and is studying in Estonia.
In October the investigation accused Sergei Udaltsov, Leonid Razvozzhaev and
Konstantin Lebedev in organizing mass riots.
If you want to be informed about the events of the Bolotnaya case,
please write to [email protected]
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