Navalny Live YouTube channel host sentenced to 30-day arrest for organizing unauthorized rally on May 5
MOSCOW. May 22 (Interfax) - Moscow's Tverskoy District Court has sentenced Navalny Live YouTube channel host Ruslan Shaveddinov to 30-day administrative arrest on Tuesday for a repeat violation of the regulations of holding a mass event on May 5.
"Shaveddinov was found guilty of committing an administrative offence of a repeat violation of the established procedure of organizing or holding an assembly, rally, demonstration, procession or picket," the court told Interfax.
The court also sentenced another associate of Alexei Navalny, Sergei Boyko, for 30-day arrest for the same offence.
The court found that Shaveddinov and Boyko used the Internet to urge citizens to participate in an unauthorized rally, thus supporting holding it. However, the activists did not admit their guilt and said that they had blogged about the rally long before they found out that the Moscow authorities did not permit it.
Navalny's spokesperson Kira Yarmysh was detained for the same offense on Tuesday. She has not been brought before the court yet.
According to official reports, around 300 people were detained during the rally in Moscow on May 5. Organizers say that at least 500 people were detained.
On May 15, Moscow's Tverskoy District Court sentenced Navalny to 30-day administrative arrest for a repeat violation of the established procedure of organizing a public event.