MOSCOW, October 26 (RAPSI) – Ex-defendant of the Bolotnaya Square riot case Richard Sobolev has been acquitted of murder upon the jury verdict, the Moscow City Court’s press service has told RAPSI.

The court has also declared Sobolev’s right to rehabilitation and demand for moral damage compensation.

According to investigation, in 2014, a group of people killed a citizen of Uzbekistan in Moscow. Sobolev was detained on November 30, 2016. The man has been charged with gang ethnic murder. He pleaded not guilty.

Earlier, Sobolev, who was also charged with participation in the riots in central Moscow in 2012, was pardoned under an amnesty.

Public protests erupted on Bolotnaya Square on the eve of Vladimir Putin’s inauguration for a third presidential term in May 2012. The rally culminated in clashes between protesters and the police. Over 400 people were arrested, and scores were injured when protesters briefly broke through police lines. Several criminal cases under Article 318 of the Criminal Code for using violence against officials were launched as a result.

Riot organizers Leonid Razvozzhayev and Sergey Udaltsov were sentenced to 4.5 years in prison each. Other defendants in the case received prison terms ranging from suspended sentences to four years. Several defendants were pardoned; two activists were sent to compulsory mental treatment.