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Opposition Leader Udaltsov Served New Indictment Over 2012 'Riots'

Opposition activist Sergei Udaltsov in January 2013 M. Stulov / Vedomosti

The Prosecutor General's Office has approved a new indictment against leftist opposition activists Sergei Udaltsov and Leonid Razvozzhayev for their role organizing supposed "riots" in 2012.

Udaltsov received the 768-page indictment on Thursday, the activist's Twitter account said. Both he and Razvozzhayev stand accused of organizing mass riots on Bolotnaya Ploshchad on May 6, 2012 and of attempting to organize further riots in fall 2012.

Udaltsov is currently being held under house arrest, a measure which began last year in February and has been extended multiple times. Razvozzhayev is being held in prison.

Violetta Volkova, Udaltsov's lawyer, confirmed the new indictments, though she has already filed a complaint over the action. Volkova told Interfax that all of the witnesses named by Udaltsov had been listed as prosecution witnesses in the new documents, although their testimony could still be used by the defense.

The investigation against Udaltsov and Razvozzhayev was returned to the Prosecutor General's Office by the Moscow City Court in December, after the defense had successfully argued that a list of witnesses and evidence for the proceedings had been inaccurately compiled. Only 32 of a possible 87 witnesses for the defense had been questioned by investigators.

Thirty people have so far been charged in connection with the Bolotnaya Ploshchad opposition rally that ended with clashes between police and protesters in May 2012. Seven defendants have been pardoned as part of an amnesty declared in December and two have been found guilty.

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