Prosecutors have sent to court a criminal case against 12 opposition activists allegedly involved in clashes with police at an opposition rally on Bolotnaya Ploshchad last May.
"A list of charges in the so-called Bolotnaya case against 12 people has been approved," the Prosecutor General's Office said in a statement late Wednesday.
According to investigators, the 12 suspects participated in "mass riots," assaulted police and damaged property. The total damage caused by the clashes has been estimated to stretch to more than 28 million rubles ($900,000), the statement said.
Around 30 people are facing criminal charges over the Bolotnaya Ploshchad violence. The inquiry into the remaining suspects is ongoing, and two have already been sentenced to jail terms.
The violence broke out on May 6 during an anti-Kremlin rally held on the eve of President Vladimir Putin's inauguration as president. At the rally, thousands took to the streets to protest what they saw as falsified elections to the State Duma and call for a new vote.
Over 400 protesters were detained at the sanctioned rally. Opposition activists maintain that the case against them is fabricated and that riot police provoked the clashes.
