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Russian Court Hands Down Prison Sentence To 'Bolotnaya' Protester


An opposition rally on Moscow's Bolotnaya Square last May before it turned violent.
An opposition rally on Moscow's Bolotnaya Square last May before it turned violent.
A Moscow court has sentenced one of the people arrested during a riot in Moscow last May to four and a half years in prison.

Maksim Luzyanin had cooperated with investigators looking into the causes and perpetrators of the unrest that broke out on May 6 when a protest against Vladimir Putin's reelection as Russia's president turned violent.

Judge Andrei Fedin said the court believed "Luzyanin's correction was not possible without isolating him from society."

Luzyanin's lawyers called the sentence "harsh" and vowed to appeal.

More than 400 people were detained in connection with the violence in Moscow's Bolotnaya Square.

Some 18 people have has charges filed against them for creating a mass disturbance.

Based on reporting by ITAR-TASS and Interfax

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