Aleksey Polikhovich

Aleksei Polikhovich holds anarchist views, participated in mass protests in late 2011-2012, in the Occupy movement, in actions in defence of Tsagovsky Forest. On 6 May 2012, he was detained on Bolotnaya Square, charged with disobedience to the police orders, but the magistrate's court closed the case, considering it falsified. During the investigation in July 2012, he was informed that he was suspected of snatching detainees from the hands of police officers. However, there was no evidence that Polikhovich had done anything of the kind: the video attached to the case shows an unidentified masked man, while a witness - riot police fighter Igor Tarasov - said that he was sure that the man who wrestled the detainees from the hands of riot police officers was Polikhovich, but could not explain why he was sure. At first, Polikhovich was officially charged only with participation in mass riots. However, seven and a half months later, Igor Tarasov suddenly remembered that Polikhovich had allegedly hit him on the arm, thus turning him from a witness into a victim, and Polikhovich was accused of using violence. This happened the day after Putin said at a press conference that violence against law enforcement officials was unacceptable. There was also no evidence that Polikhovich had hit Tarasov. At the trial, in response to a question about Tarasov's explanation for not remembering either the specific participants of the action or physical pain in May 2012, and then remembering it, the riot policeman suggested "having just forgotten about it". Prosecutors in the debate asked to sentence Polikhovich to five and a half years in a general regime penal colony. The defence lawyers insisted on his complete innocence. The Zamoskvoretsky Court sentenced him to three and a half years of imprisonment; the Moscow City Court left the decision unchanged. On 9 February 2015, Polikhovich was denied parole. On 19 October, the parole decision was made in favour of Polikhovich, and he was released on 30 October.