An aide to Just Russia Deputy Ilya Ponomaryov has been arrested in connection with riots during the May 6, 2012, opposition rally on Bolotnaya Ploshchad, the Investigative Committee said Thursday.
Dmitry Rukavishnikov, head of the Left Front movement in the Ivanovo region, is accused of taking part in the riots and overturning portable toilets to form a barricade. By doing so, he hindered police officers' movements, a statement on the committee's website said.
Rukavishnikov was detained on April 2 in Ivanovo and then brought to Moscow for court, where the court ruled that he could destroy evidence if not kept in detention and allowed house arrest as his lawyer requested.
His detention expires June 2. He faces up to eight years in prison on charges of participating in mass riots.
Investigators also said Ruskavishnikov failed to appear for questioning on earlier occasions. Rukavishnikov has denied that and said he had never been asked to come in for questioning, Lenta.ru reported Thursday.
Nearly 30 people have been detained in the ongoing investigation into the violence that erupted between protesters and police at the anti-Kremlin protests last year. Several members of the presidential human rights council have said it was police who instigated the violence.
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