A court in Novosibirsk fined activist Sergei Volkov 5,000 rubles for allegedly violating the rules on distributing election campaign materials. The case arose from a video urging people not to vote for United Russia.
Volkov's defense said he was neither an election candidate nor a representative of a political party. His lawyers also said someone else might have posted the video. Defense lawyer Olga Nechayeva described the prosecution as politically motivated.
Police officer Viktoria Gerasimova told the court that Volkov's refusal to answer questions under Article 51 of the Russian Constitution deprived him of the presumption of innocence. That was the officer's statement, not a finding by the court or a rule of law. Article 51 protects the right not to testify against oneself.