Seven weeks after his arrest, Russian actor Pawel Ustinov is released under conditions of imprisonment, but he is not allowed to leave the city. The 23-year-old was sentenced to three and a half years in prison for alleged violence against police at a protest demonstration in Moscow.
Ustinov was on the verdict by video connected from the remand center. His lawyer Anatoli Kutscherena and human rights activists spoke of a "just decision" of the court.
The actor was arrested on August 3rd on the brink of an unauthorized police rally. Ustinov had stressed that he had happened to be there. In contrast, a police officer testified in court that the actor had dislocated his shoulder. The uniformed man received a promotion.
Great solidarity with the actor
For the actor, there had been an unusually broad wave of solidarity in Russia, which was also followed by film stars and pastors. The critics were particularly angry that the court refused to consider video footage of Ustinov's arrest. The pictures show that the 23-year-old man is standing near a subway station with his cell phone in his hand when policemen in full combat gear suddenly attack him and strike with batons.
Pictures of Ustinow after the present judgment did not exist at first. The Moscow City Court stated that the documents went to the prison before he could leave the detention center.
The police and the judiciary have been criticized for weeks for proceeding with excessive hardship against participants in the demonstrations. There were thousands of arrests in the protests against the expulsion of dozens of prominent members of the city council on 8 September. Several participants were sentenced to imprisonment in the prison camp.
