MOSCOW, December 5 (RAPSI) – Prosecutors on Thursday demanded a 3.5-year prison term for Nikita Chirtsov, who stands charged with using violence against a police officer at an unauthorized rally in Moscow on July 27, RAPSI reported from a court.

Investigators believe that the man gave the policeman pokes in the chest and shoulder. The defendant pleads not guilty.

After the protest action the defendant was fined 12,000 rubles ($185) for violating the order of a rally. Later, he fled to Minsk, Belarus, but was put on the wanted list.

He was arrested in Moscow in early September after he voluntary returned to Russia. In November, Moscow’s Tverskoy District Court extended detention of Chirtsov until April 30.

Unauthorized rallies in support of candidates seeking to become lawmakers of the Moscow State Duma but refused registration by the Election Commission were held on July 27 and August 3 in central Moscow. Over 1,000 people were arrested for various violations as a result.

Following the 27 July rally, the Investigative Committee criminal cases were opened. Investigators believe that the protest action was held with the use of force against representatives of authority.