Krasnodar court drops charges against ecologists detained at the action in defence of "Utrish"

Today, the Magistrate Court has withdrawn charges of administrative cases initiated against two activists of the Ecological Watch for North Caucasus Andrei Rudomakha and Dmitry Shabalin, detained in Krasnodar on December 12 last year during a rally in defence of the natural reserve named "Utrish".

Let us remind you that according to law enforcers the protesters changed the agreed route of action; at the same time, when the militia blocked the protesters, they resisted the legitimate demands of the UVD (Interior Division).

Representatives of the UVD failed to appear at the today's court session. "The court has announced that we are acquitted because of absence of crime elements," Andrei Rudomakha told the RIA "Novosti", noting that so far the news agency has no comments of the precinct court No. 61 of the Tsentralny District of the city of Krasnodar, where the hearing took place.

The new State Nature Reserve "Utrish" was established by Decree of the Russian Government in September 2010 in the vicinity of Anapa in the territory of the wildlife sanctuary "Bolshoi Utrish". In November 2010, ecologists registered several cases of tree felling in that part of the wildlife sanctuary, which is outside the new reserve.