Anticapitalism-2017: Sergei Udaltsov jailed for five days

“Udaltsov is guilty of committing an offense under Part 2, Article 20.2 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation (organizing or holding a public event without submitting a notice in due form), and he is sentenced to five days of administrative arrest,” Interfax quoted the decision of the judge, Alesya Orekhova.

During the hearing the judge rejected all the defense’s motions — in particular, for the inclusion of a videotape of Udaltsov’s detention, the statements of several witnesses, and also deprived the oppositionist of the last word.

According to prosecutors, Udaltsov “organized and conducted with the help of the Internet an action, ‘Anticapitalism-2017,’ that was not authorized by the executive authorities. On September 23, he arrived on Strastnoy Boulevard, where a group of about 40 people around him were met by a police squad They refused to obey,” the materials say.

In court, Udaltsov said that he did not do anything illegal. According to him, he was not the organizer of the event and came to Strastnoy Boulevard to talk with friends, which under the law “is not forbidden.”

“When I came to Pushkin Square, I did not yell out any slogans, then I went along the boulevard and until the moment of detention, there were journalists with whom I was just talking. This, as far as I know, is not prohibited by law … After that the police officers came, took me by the arms and took me to the police bus,” he said.

On September 23 before the action “Anticapitalism 2017” police detained no less than 40 people. According to ATS-Info, the detainees were taken to five Moscow police departments. Police held six people for two nights before being brought to trial. Among them — Sergei Udaltsov, Anna Shchuka, Daria Isaeva, Mikhail Axel, Dmitry Kolesnichenko and Sergei Cherepovsky.

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Translated by Greg Butterfield