Russian Court Releases Bolotnoye Case Prisoner on Parole

Jan. 29, 2016

A court in Russia’s Ryazan region has agreed to release Alexander Margolin — reportedly one of the main instigators of the protest on Moscow’s Bolotnaya Ploshchad in 2012 — on parole, the meduza.ru news website reported Friday.

In response to the ruling, Margolin’s lawyer Sergei Panchenko gleefully tweeted, “Ryazan District Court just decided to release Margolin on parole! Thank God!” according to Meduza.

The decision means that Margolin will be released roughly six months before the expiration of the term originally handed to him by the court.

Of those found guilty in the case, Andrei Barabanov, Sergei Krivov, Alexei Gaskarov and Dmitry Ishyevsky all still remain in jail.

Margolin was arrested on Feb. 20, 2013 and on Aug 18, 2014 was sentenced to three and a half years in prison.

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