- Title: Arrest of student at opposition protest roils top Russian university
- Date: 15th August 2019
- Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (AUGUST 15, 2019) (REUTERS) STUDENTS SITING ON FLOOR AT COURT DOORS VARIOUS OF PEOPLE GATHERING NEAR COURT BUILDING VARIOUS OF OPPOSITION POLITICIAN LYUBOV SOBOL GOING UP STAIRS (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) VICE-RECTOR OF HIGHER SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS, VALERIYA KASAMARA, SAYING: "I would like to wait for the judge's decision, but according to Telegram Channels and the broadcast that is currently underway, the guarantees (a confidence or credit for another document referring to one person obtaining trust, confidence or credit for another) which we had gotten, have not been applied to the case. They say that there were enough guarantees that went to the district court, which of course, is very alarming." ZHUKOV'S LAWYER LEONID SOLOVYEV IN FRONT OF JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) ZHUKOV'S LAWYER, LEONID SOLOVYEV, SAYING: "The decision of the Presnensky court on the choice of a preventive measure of detention was upheld. Our application for choice of another preventive measures, including house arrest, was rejected, although all the necessary documents, including those on pawn, on personal guarantee, housing, have been collected and presented. But the court found it possible, on the basis of some photographs of incomprehensible content and background, to leave Yegor under the detention. We consider this court decision illegal and we will naturally appeal it". MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) ZHUKOV'S LAWYER, LEONID SOLOVYEV, SAYING: "All that my client, Yegor, did is that he walked with a peaceful procession and simply showed a hand to the crowd in order to they would leave directly from the roadway. That's all." VARIOUS OF COURT GATES MOSCOW, RUSSIA (RECENT - AUGUST 10, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS AT ELECTION RALLY PROTESTER HOLDING POSTER READING (Russian): 'LET GO! YEGOR ZHUKOV' (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN RAPPER OXXXYMIRON, SAYING (REPLYING TO JOURNALIST'S QUESTION 'WHY ARE YOU HERE?' POINTING AT HIS T-SHIRT READING 'FREEDOM TO ZHUKOV'): "That's why." VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS HOLDING POSTERS POSTER READING 'LET GO! YEGOR ZHUKOV' / PROTESTERS CHANTING 'RUSSIA WILL BE FREE!'
- Embargoed: 29th August 2019 15:19
- Keywords: Russian protests opposition protests Oxxxymiron election rally Yegor Zhukov criminal case on mass disorder Russia student protester
- Location: MOSCOW, RUSSIA
- City: MOSCOW, RUSSIA
- Country: Russia
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Judicial Process/Court Cases/Court Decisions
- Reuters ID: LVA002ASBXUM1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A Russian court ordered on Thursday (August 15) 21-year-old student Yegor Zhukov to stay in pre-trial detention in connection with a criminal case on mass disorder - part of one of the biggest crackdowns in recent years against an increasingly defiant opposition decrying President Vladimir Putin's grip on power.
Zhukov, a well-known blogger with over 100,000 followers on social media, was detained on July 27. His detention has been extended until September 27 by the court. His arrest has angered some of his fellow university students as well as opposition politicians and artists in Moscow.
More than 1,000 people have been detained in Russian capital under similar charges to Zhukov's after taking part in protests demanding the government allow opposition candidates to run in an upcoming local election. That vote, though local, is seen as a dry run for a national parliamentary election in 2021.
Opposition politician Lyubov Sobol, rapper Oxxxymiron, Zhukov's parents, a vice-rector of Zhukov's university, and dozens of students gathered near the court building waiting for the verdict in the latest hearing on Thursday.
His plight has rocked his university, the Higher School of Economics, which is nicknamed Vyshka, angering students and some teachers.
If found guilty, Zhukov faces up to eight years in jail.
(Production: Anastasia Adasheva, Dmitry Madorsky) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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