16 Aug 2019 18:40

Navalny's Moscow HQ coordinator fined 300,000 rubles

MOSCOW. Aug 16 (Interfax) - The Khoroshevsky District Court has sentenced Oleg Stepanov, a coordinator of the Moscow branch of the opposition activist Alexei Navalnys headquarters, to a fine of 300,000 rubles, the headquarters said on Twitter.

"Our coordinator Oleg Stepanov has been fined 300,000 rubles for 'organizing' the meetings with the independent candidates on Trubnaya Square on July 16-19," the headquarters said.

Stepanov served two administrative sentences before the court hearing. He was arrested for eight days for urging participation in the rally on July 27. While leaving the detention facility on August 1, he was detained again and given another 15 days of administrative arrest for a repeat violation of the regulations of organizing a rally.

The first protest of the independent candidates took place on July 14, after the campaign to collect voters' signature had ended, but before they were officially denied registration. The candidates urged their supporters to come to Trubnaya Square every evening. No mass arrests took place at the time.