MOSCOW, May 10 (RAPSI, Lyudmila Klenko) – The investigation into the case of Lyudmila Yesipenko, an activist of ultra-conservative Orthodox group Bozhya Volya (God’s Will), who stands accused of vandalizing an art exhibition, had been completed, Oksana Mikhalkina, Yesipenko’s lawyer, told RAPSI on Tuesday.
“We were informed that the investigation was over. Today we will be given a crime bill and start to read the criminal case file, which makes 8 volumes,” – the lawyer said.
The defense could also obtain the results of a comprehensive psychological and psychiatric examination, which found Yesipenko answerable, in spite of acting in state of emotion. According to Mikhalkina, a psychologist noted that the defendant acted in the way she did because her feelings as a believer were offended.
Yesipenko had been officially charged with causing damage to cultural valuables, a crime punishable by imprisonment for up to three years under the respective article of the Russia’ s Criminal Code. She pleaded not guilty.
The damage allegedly caused by Yesipenko to the Moscow Government, which is the aggrieved party in the case, amounts to 196,000 rubles ($3,000).
The God’s Will leader Dmitry Tsorionov, aka Enteo, together with his followers attacked an art exhibition held at the Manege space in central Moscow on August 14, 2015.
Tsorionov accused organizers of the exhibition of violating the Russian law that protects the feelings of believers.