MOSCOW, March 17 (RAPSI, Diana Gutsul) – A court in the Tula Region has dismissed a request filed by opposition activist Stepan Zimin, who got 42 months in prison for participation in Moscow's 2012 Bolotnaya riots, to release him on parole, Zimin’s attorney Sergei Panchenko told RAPSI on Tuesday.

The prison administration supported the parole motion, but the prosecutor’s office argued against it.

The term of Zimin’s sentence will expire in nine months. The court ruling will be appealed, Panchenko added.

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.

Riot organizers, Sergei Udaltsov and Leonid Razvozzhayev, were sentenced to 4.5 years in prison. Other participants received prison terms ranging from suspended sentences to four years. Several defendants were pardoned; one is undergoing compulsory mental treatment.