ST. PETERSBURG -- The leader of the opposition Yabloko party branch in St. Petersburg has been charged with hooliganism, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports.
Maksim Reznik and his colleagues were sitting in a cafe on December 14 night after participating in a "March of Dissent," when someone approached him and poured food scraps and horse manure on him. Police detained the attacker and another person on the spot.
Later, Reznik was summoned to a police station where he was informed that a lawsuit had been filed against him. Reznik said someone who had filmed the attack against him in the cafe filed a lawsuit against him, accusing Reznik of beating him. Reznik says both the attack and the charges against him are politically motivated.
Reznik was one of the organizers of the antigovernment March of Dissent.