MOSCOW, June 19 (RAPSI) - During the trial at the Moscow City Court the prosecutor asked to uphold the verdict in the 2012 Bolotnaya riots case for eight activists, RAPSI reports from the courtroom.

On February 24, the Zamoskvoretsky District Court sentenced the activists to prison terms of three to four years in prison for participation in the riots.  The defendants and their defense team appealed the ruling. They asked for reversal of the judgment and acquittal.

Over 400 people were arrested and scores injured in the Bolotnaya Square protest that turned violent in May 2012. Dozens were later charged with inciting mass riots and using violence against law enforcement officers.

Ten suspects were pardoned pursuant to a broad amnesty spearheaded by Russian President Vladimir Putin in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Russian constitution at the end of 2013 and the beginning of 2014.

Moreover, protester Maxim Luzyanin, who had pleaded guilty for his role in the riots, was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison in 2012. Another defendant Mikhail Kosenko in 2013 was sentenced to compulsory psychiatric treatment. In early June, the Chekhov City Court of the Moscow Region released Kosenko from a mental hospital to continue treatment in an outpatient clinic.

On May 28, Moscow’s Basmanny District Court detained activist Dmitry Ishevsky on suspicion of participating in the riots. According to the investigation, Ishevsky left Russia after the riots trying to escape trial but his whereabouts was established.