On Monday(6th), a year after Putin's inauguration, 20,000 protesters again took to the streets of central Moscow and gathered in Bolotnaya Square, across from the Kremlin. They demanded the release of all political prisoners after last year's crackdown following Putin's inaugauration as President.

One of those prisoners is Alexey Gaskarov, a long-standing anti-fascist and member of the Russian opposition coordination council, was arrested on Sunday(28th) in Moscow. The investigation committee of the Russian Federation (a kind of Russian FBI) is trying to link him to the riots of 6th May 2012.

The 6th was the day prior to Putin's third inauguration as President and a mass demonstration had been called by those opposing the authorities. 2011 and 2012 had seen the biggest public demonstartions in Russia for twenty years. The streets echoed with the chants of "Russia without Putin!" and "We are the power here!". These protests or the Snow Revolution as it was dubbed by some, began as a response to Putin's unorthodox electoral practices and continued because of his relentless assault on journalists, government whistleblowers, opposition leaders, activists, punks and in general anyone that questions his authority.

Let's not forget the notorious Pussy Riot collective, who still have three members imprisoned. See SchNEWS 809 and 819. More than 20,000 demonstrators attended the mass actions in Moscow in 2012 and called for the inauguration to be annulled. Violence between protesters and police resulted in 80 people being injured. The police made 400 arrests, with another 140 protesters arrested the next day. From those arrests 28 people have now been charged, with some of them facing up to 10 years in Russia's harsh penal system. They have either been remanded, put under house arrest or been forced into exile.

It was during this pre-inauguration demonstration Alexey Gaskarov was beaten by OMON police officers (a special branch of the police). Alexey filled a complaint against the attack, unsurprisingly nothing happened, however the police had not forgotten him. A year later, a few days before the anniversary of the riots and in the run up to the May Day demonstrations the police came calling. They descended on him as he was on his way to the pet store to purchase some cat food. He has been accused of violence and riots against officials. There was a court hearing on Monday(29th) at the Basmanny district courthouse. Following the hearing Alexey Gaskarov remains in custody. According to twitter reports he is imprisoned in SIZO-5, a pre-trial detention centre in Moscow.

For more information and updates on the case of Alexey Gaskarov:

gaskarov.info@gmail.com
http://gaskarov.info
https://twitter.com/gaskarov_info
Svetlana Sidorkina (Gaskarov’s lawyer): +7 (926) 557-9016