Artem Savelov

Artem Savelov is a so-called "ordinary citizen", one of the many participants in the mass protests of late 2011-2012, who does not belong to any political organisations. On 6 May 2012, he was in the first ranks of demonstrators who broke the chain of police blocking the movement of the column. He was detained a few minutes after the breakthrough. He spent the night in the Khamovniki IAB. On 8 May, the magistrate ruled on administrative arrest for 24 hours. More than a month later Savelov was arrested in a criminal case. As for the use of violence, he is accused of grabbing by the hand and by the body armour of Alexander Gogolev, an officer of the 2nd operative regiment of the Main Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Moscow, who, according to the investigation, detained him together with his colleague Andrei Emelyanov. The accusation is based on the testimony of the so-called victim Gogolev and the so-called witness Emelyanov. Gogolev, however, gave different testimonies at different interrogations, confusing the colour of hair and jacket of the person who allegedly grabbed him. He was not even ready to admit with certainty that violence had indeed been used. (And Emelyanov initially said that no one had committed any unlawful acts against him and Gogolev and other colleagues). At the same time, judging by the video, which clearly shows Savelov's detention, it was not the soldiers of the 2nd Operative Regiment who detained him, but OMON officers wearing completely different uniforms. This means that Savelov's accusation is based on absolutely false testimony. In the opinion of the prosecution, expressed in the debate, one of the confirmations of Artem Savelov's guilt is the video, on which he "sits on the asphalt together with other citizens, continuing unlawful actions".

Savelov has logoneurosis - a neurotic form of stuttering, it is very difficult for him to speak, and his condition worsened in the pre-trial detention centre.

Prosecutors in the debate asked to sentence Savelov to five and a half years' imprisonment in a general regime colony. The defence lawyers insisted on his complete innocence. The Zamoskvoretsky court sentenced him to two years and seven months of imprisonment in a general regime colony; the Moscow City Court left the decision unchanged. On 31 December 2014 Savelov was released from prison.