Defence challenges Pivovarov’s arrest

Cooperation with an undesirable organization, in which Andrei Pivovarov is accused, is a crime of moderate gravity, and the evidence of guilt was presented with violations, advocates claim in a complaint about the arrest of a politician who is being kept at a SIZO (pre-trial prison) in Krasnodar.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on June 2, in Krasnodar, a court placed Andrei Pivovarov, a former executive director of the Open Russia* under arrest in a criminal case on the activities of an undesirable organization. On June 15, the Krasnodar Territorial Court dismissed the defence appeal against the Andrei Pivovarov’s arrest, ignoring the evidence that the repost on the social media site, because of which the investigation is being conducted, had been left not by Andrei Pivovarov, but another user. The opposition politician himself associated the criminal proceedings against him with the upcoming elections.

The advocates for opposition politician Andrei Pivovarov filed a complaint against his arrest to the Krasnodar Territorial Court. In the complaint, the defence points out that the crime, of which Andrei Pivovarov is accused, is of moderate gravity, which makes it possible to choose a pre-trial restriction measure against him, not related to arrest, advocate Sergey Badamshin told the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent.

“Besides, the evidence of the investigation was provided in violation of the procedure and the requirements of the law, and the court hearing was held in violation of the principle of publicity. The defence considers the court’s decision is illegal and unreasonable and requests to cancel it,” advocate Sergey Badamshin stated.

* The activities of two organizations registered in Great Britain and containing the words “Open Russia” in their names have been recognized by the Russian General Prosecutor’s Office as undesirable on the territory of the Russian Federation.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 23, 2021 at 12:05 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.