Court refuses to cancel Gannushkina's fine for a picket in memory of Estemirova

Today, the Moscow City Court has upheld a decision on a fine of 150,000 roubles, imposed on Svetlana Gannushkina, the chair of the "Civic Assistance Committee", for a protest action on the anniversary of the Natalia Estemirova's murder. Svetlana Gannushkina requested the court to completely acquit her in the administrative case.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on July 15, three participants of a picket in memory of Natalia Estemirova, including human rights defender Svetlana Gannushkina, were detained on Red Square in Moscow. On July 30, the court found Svetlana Gannushkina guilty of repeatedly violating the order for holding a protest action and pronounced a decision to fine her 150,000 roubles.

Today, the Moscow City Court has refused to cancel the decision of the Tver District Court to impose a fine on Svetlana Gannushkina. The court hearing lasted only 11 minutes.

The appeal filed by Svetlana Gannushkina noted that, when going to the picket, she used her constitutional right, without violating the public order. The human rights defender insists that the protest action was committed "in a state of emergency," and therefore, in accordance with the Russian Administrative Code, it cannot be considered as an offense. "No investigative actions [into the case on the murder of Natalia Estemirova] are underway, and perpetrators and customers of the murder are not wanted. In such a situation, we have no choice but to appeal to the public and to the top power of Russia represented by President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin," explained Svetlana Gannushkina as quoted in the today's post on the website of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial".

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on November 22, 2019 at 05:59 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.