The court on the case of disturbances in Manezhnaya square declined all the motions of the defense

All the motions of the defense party entered on August, 25, at a preliminary session on the case of organization of disturbances in Manezhnaya square of Moscow last December were declined today. The first hearing of the case on the merits was appointed for September, 7.

On August, 25, one of the attorneys entered a motion of summons or Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev as witnesses. The judge then told the parties to the trial that a resolution on this question would be announced on August, 26. At the same session attorney Arkhipov challenged the judge for the reason that he was not allowed to see the video recordings of the events in Manezhnaya square in December, 2010. The challenge was declined as groundless. After that defendant Ruslan Kubaev also challenged chief justice and his challenge was declined, too.

After the session the attorneys declared that the court’s refusal to grant the motions was no surprise to them. Today’s session lasted about 25 minutes.

The main trial, unlike preliminary sessions, will be held in an open regime. The case will be considered by three judges.