Lawyer Anatoly Kucherena told Sputnik on Tuesday that he plans to plead in court for the release of actor Pavel Ustinov, sentenced to 3.5 years in prison for injuring a riot police officer during an unauthorized protest in the Russian capital of Moscow
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th September, 2019) Lawyer Anatoly Kucherena told Sputnik on Tuesday that he plans to plead in court for the release of actor Pavel Ustinov, sentenced to 3.5 years in prison for injuring a riot police officer during an unauthorized protest in the Russian capital of Moscow."First of all, I am determined to raise the question of changing the measure of restraint [of Ustinov] to any other not linked to imprisonment. I hope for the court to discuss this question as early as on Friday," the lawyer said.
Kucherena clarified that he decided to embark upon Ustinov's case at the request of Russian prominent actor Konstantin Raikin and would join the existing defense proceeding, led by lawyer Dmitry Cheshkov.
"Tomorrow I hope to meet with Pavel," he added.
Kucherena said that he had already met with Ustinov's sister, received the case materials from her and is currently looking into them.
On Monday, a Moscow court sentenced Ustinov to 3.5 years in prison for violence against riot police during the August 3 rally held in the run-up to the elections to the city legislature. According to the case materials, on Pushkin Square, a police sergeant major detained Ustinov for "violating public order and being an active participant in riots." Ustinov resisted, and the police officer had his shoulder dislocated as a result. The defendant pleaded not guilty. A number of prominent Russian artists and public figures interceded on his behalf.
Unauthorized rallies began in Moscow in mid-July following the decision of the city's election commission to bar several opposition candidates from participating in the city council election. To have been registered, each prospective candidate should have collected a certain number of signatures, and the commission cited a large proportion of invalid signatures as their reason for refusing the registration of the would-be candidates.
