Week-ending 6 March 2020
Konstantin Kotov, at the appeal hearing of his conviction for repeated violation of Russia’s abusive public assembly law: ‘What else can [a person of conscience do] in such cases? I wanted to show solidarity.’
Source:
Judge Vacates Activist’s Sentence, But Keeps Him Behind Bars
Konstantin Kotov is a 35-year old software engineer who in September 2019 was sentenced to four years in prison for involvement in peaceful protests because he repeatedly flouted Russia’s abusive public assembly law. Kotov’s case has been wending its way through the appeals process, including the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court. The good news is that at a cassation hearing today the judge vacated the appeals court ruling, which had upheld Kotov’s outrageous sentence. The bad news is that instead of freeing Kotov, who was connected to the court through videoconference from a prison colony in Vladimir region, the judge sent the case back to the appeals court, and remanded Kotov for two months of custody. […] We could not see Kotov, because the video screens on which he appeared faced the judge and the defense counsel. But when it was Kotov’s turn to speak, his voice boomed through the courtroom. He talked about a few of the high-profile political cases that had brought him into the streets, including those in which law enforcement and security agents allegedly tortured the defendants. “What else can [a person of conscience do] in such cases? I wanted to show solidarity.” Human Rights Watch [Rachel Denber], 2 March 2020
