On September 2, 2019, in accordance with the international guidelines, the Memorial Human Rights Center recognized Daniil Beglets, Aidar Gubaidulin, Yegor Zhukov, Kirill Zhukov, Evgeny Kovalenko, Alexey Minyaylo, Ivan Podkopaev, Samariddin Rajabazov, Sergei Fomin, and Konstantin Kotov as political prisoners.

On July 30, all of these individuals were named as defendants in the criminal case of “Mass Riots” which had allegedly took place three days earlier, on July 27, 2019 in Moscow as thousands of Russians went to the streets to protest the illegal exclusion of opposition candidates from participation in the Moscow City Assembly elections.

All ten individuals named in the criminal case have been charged under Part 2 of Article 212 of the Russian Criminal Code (participation in riots accompanied by violence and destruction of property).

Four of those arrested – Daniil Beglets, Kirill Zhukov, Evgeny Kovalenko, and Ivan Podkopaev – have been charged under Part 1 of Article 318 of the Criminal Code (use of violence not dangerous to life and health against a representative of the government).

On September 3, 2019, Ivan Podkopaev was sentenced to three years, and Daniil Beglets to two years in general-regime penitentiary.

The prosecution has charged Aidar Gubaidulin and Samariddin Radzhabov with participation in mass riots, and conspiring to commit violence against law enforcement: Part 3 of Article 30 and Part 1 of Article 318 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (attempted use of violence against a representative of the government).

On September 3, once the prosecution had realized that its “mass riots” charges against Yegor Zhukov lacked grounds, it replaced them with new charges of “calls for extremism via the internet” (Part 2 of Article 280 of the Criminal Code).

Konstantin Kotov has been charged under Article 212.1 of the Russian Criminal Code – “repeat violation of regulations on organizing a public assembly, rally, demonstration, march or picket”. He has been sentenced to 4 years in jail for participating in three protests in support of political prisoners; publishing a post on Facebook calling on people to join a protest on July 19, 2019 against the elimination of opposition candidates from Moscow City Assembly elections; and taking part in the August 10, 2019 protest march against political repression and to urge authorities to register independent candidates for participation in the Moscow City Assembly elections.

Representatives of the Memorial Human Rights Center were at the scene of the July 27 events. They have documented and examined in detail all available records of protests and “clashes” between the demonstrators and security forces. They have also analyzed available criminal case materials. Based on this expert assessment, the Memorial Human Rights Center has determined that the demonstrations on July 27, 2019 were peaceful and non-violent. There were no riots in Moscow.

According to Article 31 of the Russian Constitution, freedom of peaceful assembly is one of the most important civil rights; and it is the duty of authorities to facilitate organization of such functions to ensure public safety. On July 27, 2019, Russian government authorities did the opposite: they attempted to prevent a peaceful action, worked to disperse it, and in the course, detained about 1,500 participants, using disproportionate violence. Unlawful obstruction of a rally, demonstration or assembly is punishable under Article 149 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation with imprisonment for a term of up to three years.

The acts of “violence” incriminated to several protesters now being prosecuted under Article 318 of the Criminal Code, in fact, never took place. Samariddin Radzhabov, for example, in no way could render bodily harm on the riot police officers equipped in full riot gear (including helmets and body armor) by throwing a plastic bottle at them. Likewise, Kirill Zhukov’s tapping with his fingers one of the officers’ helmets, or Daniil Beglets’ grabbing a hand of a policeman cannot be defined as violence. In addition, it should be kept in mind that these incidents occurred spontaneously, and in response to the unlawful and disproportionate violence exercised by the security forces against the demonstrators.

The Memorial Human Rights Center, further declares that the persecution of the July 27 protesters is politically motivated and seeks to intimidate protestors and discourage further expression of political opinion.

It is also clear that the sentences against these individuals had been determined in advance of their actual arrests. It was public statements by the Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin and Putin’s Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov who claimed that “mass riots” had occurred in Moscow, that served as calls to action. These statements were an implicit order to the Russian law enforcement and judiciary.

State television and other pro-government media outlets dutifully complied and started producing reports of the alleged “riots.” They claimed simultaneously that protesters were criminals, sponsored by the West, “nonresidents” (implying that they were not Muscovites and therefore their rights were not violated by the exclusion of independent candidates for the Moscow City Assembly elections).

The Memorial Human Rights Center asserts that these unlawful and immoral actions are carried out by the authorities with the aim of depriving the political opposition of public support, intimidating citizens and dissuading them from participation in the protest movement, and further encroaching on the freedom of assembly and freedom of expression of the Russian citizens.

On the evening of August 12, 2019 civic activist Konstantin Kotov was detained not far from his home and taken to the Moscow headquarters of the Investigative Committee. Kotov was charged with an offence under Article 212.1 of the Russian Criminal Code “Repeated violation of the regulations for organizing a public assembly, rally, demonstration, march or picket”, and his apartment was searched at night without a court order. Memorial Human Rights Centre, in accordance with international guidelines defining the term ‘political prisoner,’ has recognized Konstantin Kotov as a political prisoner.

On August 14, 2019 a judge of Presnensky district court in Moscow Elena Abramova remanded Kotov in custody until October 12 2019. This was the first time when a person charged under Article 212.1 of the Russian Criminal Code was remanded in custody. The ruling was made despite the fact that seven members of Moscow municipal assemblies, the politician Grigory Yavlinsky, the writers Liudmila Ulitskaya and Viktor Shenderovich, the film director Oleg Dorman and the journalist Viktoriya Ivleyeva vouched for Kotov. Previously, measures of pre-trial restraint applied against persons charged under this Article had never included deprivation of liberty. In the cases of Ildar Dadin and Vyacheslav Yegorov the suspects had been placed under house arrest.

On August 15, 2019 Kotov’s lawyer, Maria Eismont, reported  that the case investigator had informed her the investigation was completed and the case sent to court. The unprecedentedly short preliminary investigation in this case therefore took less than 50 hours. Moreover, the next day the judge Abramova restricted the time for Kotov and his lawyer to study the materials in the criminal case. In other words, the judge allotted 72 hours for examination of the four volumes of the criminal case, of which 48 hours fell on a weekend, thereby still further restricting Kotov’s right to a legal defense.

Kotov has been charged with taking part in three protests in support of political prisoners, calling in a Facebook post for people to join a protest on Trubnaya Square on 19 July 2019 against opposition candidates being prevented from standing in upcoming elections to Moscow city assembly, and taking part in a protest walk on 10 August 2019 after the rally that day against political repression and for the registration of independent candidates in the Moscow city assembly elections.

The very fact of prosecution under Article 212.1 of the Russian Criminal Code, which is unconstitutional and in violation of legal norms, gives grounds to conclude the prosecution of Konstantin Kotov is unlawful and politically motivated. Article 212.1, like Article 20.2, Section 8, of the Russian Administrative Law Code “Repeated violation by a participant in a public event of the established regulations for holding a picket”, contradicts fundamental legal principles and is intended to restrict freedom of assembly and force government critics to cease their public activity.

Serious criticism of Article 212.1 of the Russian Criminal Code has already been voiced on previous occasions by, in particular, Memorial Human Rights Centre, Amnesty International, the head of the Presidential Human Rights Council and the Human Rights Ombudsman of the Russian Federation.

Political motivation of the Kotov’s prosecution is shown by the fact that the peaceful protest, in which he took part of, were against the policies of the current authorities, and his prosecution took place amid of a sharp increase in repressive measures against participants in peaceful demonstrations and rallies. The little time in which the preliminary investigation was conducted (and during which Kotov was not given a single minute of confidential communication with his lawyer) made a mockery of due process. Moreover, it made clear the authorities intend to use the Kotov case as a precedent to put pressure on the organizers of, and participants in, Moscow protests against the refusal to register independent candidates in the upcoming assembly elections.

Yulia Galyamina, a Municipal Deputy and unregistered candidate for the Moscow City Parliament, has been jailed for a third consecutive time this week on the same charge of “organizing an unsanctioned rally.” She is one of several other rally organizers and participants who remain jailed following the July 27 event that was organized to draw attention to the disqualification of her candidacy and the candidacy of several other independent candidates not aligned with the Kremlin or Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin’s political factions.

Galyamina had already served one 15-day jail sentence, followed by her immediate arrest and detention for an additional 10-day sentence. Upon her release on August 22, she was immediately arrested again and is expected to serve another 10 days in jail.

Galyamina is a municipal deputy in the Timiryazevsky district of Moscow and a research fellow and a PhD candidate in philology at Lomonosov Moscow State University and a lecturer in linguistics and journalism at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow. She is one of the founding members of the unregistered “Party of December 5th.” In 2016, she ran as a candidate for the State Duma of the Russian Federation and was the most successful among other opposition candidates.

Galyamina is still suffering from pain in her jaw after police struck her during a rally in 2017, breaking her jaw and several teeth.

Hundreds of scientists, teachers and journalists signed an open letter demanding the Moscow Central Election Commission reconsider its decision on the refusal of Yulia Galyamina and other candidates to register for the ballot.

Over the last weekend, as the Kremlin continued its crackdown on recent protests calling for free elections in the city, police in Moscow arrested 1,001 demonstrators, according to independent monitoring group OVD-info.

The rally had been banned by Russian authorities in a move to quell the ongoing protest movement that has seen tens of thousands take part over the past four weeks. Anger is centered on the authorities’ decision to bar opposition candidates from participating in the upcoming Moscow City Council elections – despite the fact they collected the minimum 5,000 signatures needed to run.

Officials claim that many signatures were invalid, disqualifying the candidates from standing for election. But protestors remain unconvinced, saying the exclusion of opposition candidates is a deliberate, political suspension of democracy.

The government has been fierce in its response to opposition of this form. While protests remained peaceful and orderly, the authorities unleashed OMON and heavily armed riot forces of Rosgvardia, who have brutalized thousands, including children, the disabled and the elderly.

The violent response has been directed not just at civilian protestors, but at opposition candidates too.

• Yulia Galyamina, municipal deputy and unregistered City Duma candidate, was jailed for 10 days, then apprehended immediately as she walked out of jail, and sentenced to another 15 days. Hundreds of scientists, teachers and journalists signed an open letter demanding to reconsider the decisions on the refusal of Yulia Galyamina and other candidates to register for the ballot;
• Konstantin Yanskauskas, unregistered City Duma candidate, was first sentenced to seven days in jail, then re-arrested, and given another 10 days;
• Ilya Yashin, the head of Krasnoselsky municipal district and unregistered City Duma candidate, was first jailed for 12 days, then re-arrested, and given another 10 days;
• Alexei Navalny, Russia’s most prominent opposition figure, arrested for 30 days. He fell ill while in the custody of authorities, with symptoms strongly suggesting he was poisoned. His doctors and lawyers were initially denied access when he fell ill, and the size of his guarding convoy tripled. Navalny’s lawyer Olga Mikhailova released a statement from his long-time doctor saying that his symptoms were the result of “an undefined chemical substance;”
• Dmitry Gudkov, independent candidate and unregistered City Duma candidate, former State Duma deputy, is now serving out a 30-day sentence, and he faces future administrative charges when he gets out;
• Vladimir Milov, former deputy minister of energy, Navalny’s economic adviser and Navalny LIVE YouTube channel host who was broadcasting the rally on July 27, has been sentenced to 30 days in jail;
• Ivan Zhanov, a director of the Anti-Corruption Foundation and unregistered City Duma candidate, was first sentenced to 15 days in jail, then re-arrested, and given another 10 days. He’s declared a hunger strike in protest;
• Georgy Alburov, a lawyer at the Anti-Corruption Foundation, was sent to jail for 10 days;
• Mikhail Svetov, the leader of the Libertarian Party of Russia, sentenced to 30 days of imprisonment;
• Mark Galperin, an activist, arrested for 30 days;
• Vadim Korovin, municipal deputy, sentenced to 10 days of imprisonment;
• Oleg Stepanov, a coordinator of Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Movement office in Moscow, arrested for 8 days and immediately re-arrested for 15 days as soon as he was released;
• Lyubov Sobol, an unregistered candidate, was fined 300,000 rubles ($4,590) for her involvement in Moscow’s July 15 rally, and later interrogated as a witness in the city’s criminal investigation into supposed rioting on July 27. The authorities cannot jail Sobol for a misdemeanor offense because she has a child under the age of 14, and Russian law prohibits the jailing of mothers with children who haven’t yet reached this age.

At the same time, police detained nine people on suspicion of “organizing and conducting mass riots” during an opposition rally on July 27: Sergey Abanichev, Vladislav Barabanov, Kirill Zhukov, Yevgeny Kovalenko, Daniil Konon, Alexey Minyailo, Ivan Podkopayev, Samariddin Radzhabov, and Yegor Zhukov. They have been placed in pre-trial custody until September 27. The activists may face up to eight years in prison if convicted:

• Yegor Zhukov, 22, is a student at Moscow’s Higher School of Economics (HSE) and a popular YouTube blogger was also arrested. He is arguably the most high-profile defendant in the “mass unrest” case, with fellow students staging single-person pickets in his support outside the Moscow police headquarters;
• Alexei Minyaylo, 34, an associate of rejected opposition candidate Lyubov Sobol’s campaign. Maintains he had not taken part in the July 27 protests, saying “law enforcement officers detained me before I got there;”
• Samariddin Radzhabov, 21, the youngest “mass unrest” suspect, accused of throwing a plastic bottle at a police officer;
• Kirill Zhukov, 28, accused of lifting a police helmet visor;
• Ivan Podkopayev, 25, thought to have brought a knife and hammer in his backpack to the protest;
• Yevgeny Kovalenko, 48, accused of throwing a trash can at a riot police officer;
• Sergei Abanichev, 25, accused of throwing a paper cup at a police officer;
• Vladislav Barabanov, 22, declared in court that the case is politically motivated and said “If I start incriminating myself, know that I’ve been tortured;”
• Daniil Konon, 22, accused of “paralyzing traffic” in central Moscow and using violence against authorities alongside other unidentified protesters.

Also, police have arrested a 10th suspect: Sergey Fomin. He is in fact only charged with participating in, not organizing, “riots” on July 27. If convicted, he faces between three and eight years in prison.

On August 1, Samariddin Radzhabov declared a hunger strike to protest the authorities’ allegations, and Kirill Zhukov is also hunger striking.

On August 8, Russian investigators announced that they have frozen more than 100 bank accounts as part of their inquiry into alleged money laundering by members of the Anti-Corruption Foundation. The authorities also carried out a series of raids at FBK’s office and the homes of several staff, and multiple employees have been summoned to the Investigative Committee for questioning.

Since the arrest of Yegor Zhukov, supporters have picketed the Moscow police headquarters daily with banners calling for his release. Four demonstrators were arrested. More than 1,000 people have joined a channel on the messenger app Telegram that coordinates public action in his support. Hundreds have signed an open letter calling on the university leadership to lobby for his freedom.

The “mass unrest” case has prompted Russia’s independent Novaya Gazeta newspaper to launch a petition urging the authorities to put an end to what it called “political terror.” More than 110,000 people have signed it in three days.

Fearful of independent voices even at local levels, Putin’s regime disqualified every single pro-democracy candidate from participating in the Moscow City Council elections.

All of these candidates had done an immense amount of work painstakingly collecting thousands of voters’ signatures and filing required paperwork. They had conducted their pre-election work in a very public way and energized millions of people across all Russian regions, who followed them over the social media.

Disqualification ploys included claims by authorities that signatures were fake and signators didn’t exist (including some pretty famous people who then had to prove they DO exist), to authorities manually altering all “1” in passport numbers to “4”, to misspelling names during database checks and even bribing print shops to change critical information on candidates signature collection sheets, rendering them invalid.

The reasons offered by authorities to explain disqualifications were so ludicrous, so disdainful and so obviously false, that they ignited a massive public uproar. 25,000 people moved to the streets to protest.

While protests remained peaceful and orderly, the authorities unleashed heavily armed riot forces of Rosgvardia, who have brutalized thousands, including children, the disabled and the elderly. They cracked people’s sculls against asphalt and applied maneuvers to intentionally break arms, legs and ribs.

1,500 people were arrested including the leaders of the Russian prodemocracy movement:

– Alexei Navalny, Russia’s most prominent opposition figure, arrested for 30 days.

– Vladimir Milov, former deputy minister of energy and Navalny Live YouTube channel host who was broadcasting the rally on July 27, arrested for 30 days.

– Ivan Zhdanov, director of the Anti-Corruption Foundation, sentenced to 15 days of imprisonment.

– Ilya Yashin, municipal deputy, sentenced to 12 days of imprisonment.

– Dmitry Gudkov, ex-State Duma deputy, arrested for 30 days.

– Alexander Soloviev, ex-chairman of the pro-democracy movement Open Russia, arrested for 8 days.

– Lyubov Sobol, a lawyer for the Anti-Corruption Foundation, who is on a hunger strike since July was released that night.

– Konstantin Jankauskas, municipal deputy, sentenced to 7 days of imprisonment.

– Yulia Galyamina, municipal deputy, arrested for 10 days.

– Mikhail Svetov, the leader of the Libertarian Party of Russia, sentenced to 30 days of imprisonment.

– Mark Galperin, an activist, arrested for 30 days.

– Vadim Korovin, municipal deputy, sentenced to 10 days of imprisonment.

– Oleg Stepanov, a coordinator of Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Movement office in Moscow, arrested for 8 days and immediately rearrested for 15 days as soon as he was released yesterday on August 1st.

Alexei Navalny fell ill while in custody of authorities, with symptoms strongly suggesting intentional poisoning. His doctors and lawyers were initially denied access and the size of his guarding convoy tripled. Navalny’s lawyer Olga Mikhailova released a statement from his long-time doctor saying that his symptoms were the result of “an undefined chemical substance.”

While in detention, some other arrested leaders were harassed and threatened by their cellmates who supposedly conspired with the police.