Artem Savelov
is one of 27 people who
are currently on trial because of their involvement in
the mass demonstration on 6th of May 2012. On that date,
immediately before President Putin's inauguration, about
100,000-120,000 people took part in a peaceful protest
in Moscow. The police suddenly blocked the way to
Bolotnaya (Swamp) Square where the SANCTIONED march was
to terminate thus provoking a clash with the protesters.
Then the police announced the demonstration was
cancelled and immediately attacked the protesters,
beginning to disperse them with the aid of batons and
tear gas. As a result, approximately 600 people were
arrested on the spot, hundreds were injured. Criminal
charges were initiated not against the unlawful police
officers but against the lawful protesters for
participating in mass disorder and acts of violence. 27
people were selected by the authorities to serve as
examples in a theatre of show-case prosecutions.
Artem Savelov was arrested on 6th of June 2012. According
to the accusations he was shouting various slogans like
"Away with the police state!", "We demand fair
elections!" etc and also "disturbed the policemen,
attempting to pull them into the aggressive crowd of
citizens".
The videos of the
event however demonstrate that Savelov managed to last
on the line of the protest in Bolotnaya Square for just a few minutes
before he was pushed by the crowd out through the chain
of policemen, where he was immediately arrested and
locked into a police car. On the video he is neither
resisting the police nor engaging in any aggressive
actions. The policeman whom he allegedly tried to pull
by his bullet-proof vest stated in the court that he
was "doubtful" whether Savelov's action was
violent or not (if "pulling" took a place at all). The
accusations of "shouting extremist slogans non-stop" are
particularly bizarre because he speaks with a severe
stutter - a circumstance which makes his
interrogations very tedious.
According to his
lawyers, Savelov simply could not have conducted the actions
which are attributed to him. Further
more, Savelov, a metro worker and a sportsmen, did not
belong to any political party but spontaneously joined the
demonstration out of curiosity. Nevertheless he remains
in jail.
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