The Simonovsky District Court of Moscow replaced the former coordinator of Navalny's Moscow headquarters, Oleg Stepanov, with a real-term restriction of freedom on a «sanitary case». This was reported to TASS in court.
“In general, it turned out to be a pretty good deal: ~5 months [of freedom] were replaced by 2.5 [months of a colony],” the oppositionist himself commented on the decision on Twitter.
In August 2021, Stepanov was sentenced to a year of restriction of freedom on a “sanitary case” due to posts about a rally in support of Alexei Navalny. He was forbidden to leave Moscow, leave the house at night and participate in mass actions. During the investigation, the politician was under house arrest for more than six months.In January, the Ministry of Internal Affairs added Stepanov, who left the country, to the federal wanted list.
Crown of Evidence. How the “sanitary case” works
Stepanov and other defendants in the “sanitary case” were accused of inciting to violate sanitary and epidemiological rules at a rally on January 23, 2021 (part 4 of article 33, part 1 of article 236 of the Criminal Code).
According to investigators, they published calls to go to a rally in support of Navalny. Because of this, according to the Investigative Committee, protesters arrived in the center of Moscow, who were supposed to be in quarantine, which created the threat of “mass disease of people.”
All of them were given suspended sentences and restriction of freedom as punishment. In addition to Stepanov, after the emigration, the punishment was replaced with real terms for the oppositionist Lyubov Sobol and Alexei Navalny's brother Oleg. The Federal Penitentiary Service also demanded that Pussy Riot members Maria Alyokhina and Lyusya Stein, who dressed as Delivery Club couriers, be sent to the colony in order to leave their apartments and leave.