Russian Supreme Court Rules Bolotnaya Protester Arrested Unlawfully

June 8, 2016

Russia's Supreme Court has ruled that the arrest of anti-Kremlin protester Leonid Kovyazin was unlawful, the Moskva news agency reported Wednesday.

The decision was made following a similar verdict from the European Court of Human Rights, Kovyazin's lawyer Dmitry Agranovsky said.

Kovyazin participated in the infamous protest against President Vladimir Putin in Bolotnaya Square in May 2012. The demonstration ended with clashes with police and mass detentions.

Around 35 protesters were subject to criminal investigations, with 11 serving prison terms.

Kovyazin was detained four months after the protest and spent 470 days in captivity before he was granted amnesty in December 2013.

On Sept. 17, the European Human Rights Court ruled that Russia violated the rights of Kovyazin and ordered the Kremlin to pay him 2,000 euros in compensation.

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