 As Boris Bruk, writing for the Institute of Modern Russia, points out, Sergei Krivov who has a Phd in Physics and Mathematics and was an activist of the Republican Party of Russia – People’s Freedom Party and the opposition movement Solidarnost, did not plead guilty and described the events on Bolotnaya Square in the following terms: “I saw the police officers organizing in groups, rushing to people, and beating them. I saw some black objects flying around—later, I understood those were pieces of asphalt… Special force officers beat us. I was keeping hold of the barrier. When the officer started beating me, it happened that I took the truncheon. I passed it to somebody. I am sure my actions did not cause physical pain to anyone.” In his closing statement, Bruk reports, Krivov said that he had tried to prevent police violence against innocent people. At the time of Sergei Krivov's conviction, John Dalhuisen, Europe and Central Asia Programme Director at Amnesty International said: "What happened on Bolotnaya Square on 6 May 2012 was not the quelling of a riot, but the crushing of a protest. The Bolotnaya trial has not exposed orchestrated violence, but rather a criminal justice system that is entirely malleable to the dictates of its political masters. The defendants in this trial were confronted by abusive use of force by police. Some of them sought to prevent violence, others to protect themselves. A few were just caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. All are victims of a politically motivated show trial. Contrary to the official line, there was not a mass riot. There was violence, but most of it was at the hands of the police. To this day, however, not a single police officer has been brought to justice for these abuses.” That day, Sergei Krivov was declared by Amnesty International to be a prisoner of conscience, along with five others, and called for his immediate and unconditional release (along with that of Artem Saviolov, Stepan Zimin, Denis Lutskevich, Aleksey Polikhovich, and Yaroslav Belousov). Boris Bruk, Russia’s Political Prisoners: Sergei Krivov, Institute of Modern Russia, 4 March 2014Source: 'Bolotnoye Case Prisoner Walks Free,' The Moscow Times, 15 July 2016 Russia Releases One Bolotnaya Prisoner , RFE/RL, 15 July 2016 'Russia: Guilty verdict in Bolotnaya case - injustice at its most obvious,' Amnesty International, 21 February 2016 |
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