Visual content: Simply a man standing in front of the Басманный суд / Basmannyi Court in Moscow
Audio content: A father speaking about his son who has been arrested in connection with an opposition demonstration
Video from Дождь
26 февраля 2015
On May 6, 2012, a major political protest march took place. Just as the marchers were approaching the intended endpoint of the march, Болотная площадь / Marsh Square, they encountered a large police force. In the aftermath of the incident, dozens of participants were arrested and accused of crimes along the lines of resisting arrest, disturbing the peace and attacking police officers. Many civil rights leaders viewed the arrested as political prisoners. This became one of the major political cases of recent years. Although many of the imprisoned activists were freed in the mass amnesty of late 2013 and early 2014, investigation of the incident continued. In early 2015, a young man named Иван Непомнящих / Ivan Nepomniashchikh was accused of having interfered with police actions during the Болотное incident and was placed under house arrest.
Update (12/2015): Ivan Nepomniashchikh was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison. He was convicted of hitting a police officer.
Update (August 2017): Nepomniashchikh was released from prison. He is not allowed to participate in large-group events but apparently intends to engage in single-person demonstrations.
Here Ivan’s father speaks with a journalist. The most interesting section starts at 1:45.
0:00
Отец: Во-первых, еще неизвестно, привезут ли его сегодня сюда [or с суда?]. Может быть, до завтра отложат. А насчет меры [пресечения], вот этот государственный адвокат, который вчера расследовать назначил, ну он намекнул, намекнул о двух месяцах. Я, собственно, привез сюда сумку с вещами, зубные щетки и всякую такую..