All 12 suspects in the case of mass disturbances on Moscow’s Bolotnaya Square on 6 May 2012 have refused to plead guilty in court, a correspondent of the Russian Agency for Legal and Judicial Information (RASPI) reports. The session of the Zamoskovoretsky Court in the capital was open to the public at the Moscow City Court building.
All 12 suspects also announced that they do not understand the charges made against them. “Your honor, I am being slandered. The case is fabricated, and I cannot understand at all what I am accused of,” said Denis Lutskevich in particular.
“I plead not guilty of committing any unlawful actions. Furthermore, I consider myself a victim of the actions of the OMON [riot police] and the chiefs of police who organized a bloodbath on the square. I was beaten. And now the policeman who beat me with a club over the head is saying that I caused him pain,” noted Sergei Krivov.
The trial continued 26 June. The court was expected to examine the evidence of the indictment.
According to the authorities, the procession along Yakimanka street and the rally on Bolotnaya Square on 6 May of last year ended in a clash with police. Dozens of people on both sides suffered and more than 400 demonstrators were detained. The Investigative Committed opened a case under Art. 212 of the Russian Criminal Code (“Mass Disorders”).