22 Aug 2019 14:11

Moscow City Court upholds arrest of Kovalenko charged with hurling garbage bin at National Guard serviceman on July 27

MOSCOW. Aug 22 (Interfax) - The Moscow City Court has upheld arrest of Yevgeny Kovalenko charged with using violence against Russian National Guard officers during the unpermitted protest of July 27, a spokesman for the court told Interfax on Thursday.

"The judge upheld the ruling of the Moscow Meshchansky District Court, and turned down the appeal," the spokesman said.

Lawyers insisted on putting Kovalenko under house arrest. They said the garbage bin, which was hurled towards a guard, did not hurt the latter. Besides, lawyer Mansur Gilmanov said that Kovalenko pleaded not guilty and did not turn himself in.

Still, the court refused to mitigate the restrictive measure for Kovalenko.

The defendant, 48, is accused of twice using violence against officers without endangering their lives or health. If proven guilty, Kovalenko is facing a fine of up to 200,000 rubles, or an arrest of up to six months, or a prison term of up to five years.

According to investigators, on July 27, Kovalenko "exhibited political enmity towards officials during the unauthorized rally and used violence against an OMON officer without endangering the latter's life or health; the officer was wearing uniform and operating in the line of duty to the benefit of society and the state and consistent with the powers vested in him by the Russian Constitution, and the Federal Law on the National Guard. In particular, the defendant pushed a police officer and hurled a metal garbage bin at a Russian National Guard officer, 'causing physical pain and moral damage'."