MOSCOW, August 25 (RAPSI) – The Supreme Court’s Presidium will consider the possibility of vacation of sentence against Russian opposition activists Sergey Udaltsov and Leonid Razvozzhayev in the 2012 Bolotnaya Square riot case on September 16, according to the court’s press service.

Udaltsov and Razvozzhayev asked the Supreme Court to overturn their sentence in the 2012 Bolotnaya Square riot case basing on the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). According to lawyer Dmitry Agranovsky, the ECHR has held that Russia had violated Part 1 of the Article 6 of the European Convention for Human Rights (Right to a fair trial) by convicting the opposition activists based on the testimony of another defendant Konstantin Lebedev, who had signed a plea deal with investigators.

Over 400 people were arrested and scores injured in the Bolotnaya Square protests that turned violent in May 2012. Dozens were later charged with inciting riots and assault on law enforcement officers.

Riot organizers Leonid Razvozzhayev and Udaltsov were sentenced to 4.5 years in prison each based partly on testimony by Konstantin Lebedev, who was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison but released on parole.

Other convicts in the riots case received punishment ranging from suspended sentences to four years in prison. Several defendants were pardoned; one is undergoing compulsory mental treatment.

In November 2019, the ECHR refused to declare the activists’ prosecution politically motivated, however, it recognized violation of their right to a fair trial and awarded Razvozzhayev and Udaltsov 11,000 and 9,000 euros in compensation respectively.