11.06 Moscow
MOSCOW, June 11 (Alexey Eremenko, RIA Novosti) This month, 12 protesters are standing trial over clashes with police at a massive 2012 opposition rally in Moscow, with dozens more prosecutions expected. The clashes became a pivotal moment for Russias opposition movement, shattering illusions of an easy victory, and the case has grown increasingly convoluted.
Whats the case about? Here is an attempt to sift through the muck and spell out seven basic issues, with three arguments for the prosecution, three for the defense, and one that can play out either way in the event of a fair trial.
First, some background: The rally took place May 6, 2012, in Moscow's Bolotnaya Square, across the river from the Kremlin. Eighty-two police reported minor injuries, and 650 people were briefly detained.
Violence erupted after the column of protesters got bottlenecked in narrow police cordons near the entrance to the square and then tried to break through. What exactly happened is a matter of vehement debate. Opposition groups which are to rally in support of the defendants Wednesday insist that police provoked the clashes; law enforcement officials blame opposition provocateurs and cast the riots as an attempted putsch by leftist rabble-rousers.
The 12 suspects face charges of mass rioting (up to five years in prison) and/or use of non-life-threatening force against police (up to 10 years). The case has grown to gargantuan proportions, with 70 volumes of evidence and hundreds of witnesses. A second round of preliminary procedural hearings is to start mid-month.
Please note that most of the hyperlinks below lead to Russian-language sources.
ARGUMENTS FOR THE PROSECUTION:
Violence.
Prosecution:
Eight of 12 defendants assaulted police officers on Bolotnaya Square, according to case materials. Key incidents include breaking through a police cordon, strangling officers and seizing a truncheon from a policeman in order to beat other law enforcers. A petite 18-year-old anarchist, Alexandra Dukhanina, was filmed throwing a chunk of asphalt at or at least toward police.
