MOSCOW, December 20 (RAPSI) – The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) merged and prioritized three applications filed by defendants in the Bolotnaya riot case, attorney Dmitry Agranovsky wrote on his Twitter account on Friday.

The applications in question were filed by Stepan Zimin, Denis Lutskevich, and Alexei Polihovitch. 

Over 400 people were arrested and scores were injured in the protest on Bolotnaya Square that turned violent on the eve of President Vladimir Putin’s inauguration to a third presidential term in May 2012. Dozens of participants were later charged with inciting mass riots and using violence against law enforcement representatives.

Nikulinsky District Court of Moscow on Thursday terminated the case against four defendants in the 2012 Bolotnaya Square Moscow riots case – Nikolai Kavkazsky, Maria Baronova, Leonid Kovyazin and Vladimir Akimenkov.

In all, 12 applications were filed with the ECHR by the Bolotnaya defendants, 7 were merged and prioritized. The European court posed inquiries with the Russian authorities concerning the case, with the answer expected to be given by January 17 2014.