Russia's Supreme Court has ordered a lower court to review the case of a kindergarten teacher who was imprisoned for reposting a child-abuse video in what she said was an innocent effort to raise awareness.
The high court said on February 28 that it had sent the case against Yevgenia Chudnovets back to the trial court in the Kurgan region.
Chudnovets was convicted and sentenced to six months in prison in November for disseminating the graphic video on social media in August, despite her explanation that she was trying draw attention to the incident it depicted.
The reposting of the video helped police catch a man and woman who were convicted and sentenced to prison terms of three and six years, respectively.
After an upsurge of public support for Chudnovets, Deputy Prosecutor-General Leonid Korzhinek asked the Supreme Court to cancel the verdict and drop the charge against Chudnovets.
It was not immediately clear whether Chudnovets would be released pending a new ruling.
It was the second time in less than two weeks that the Supreme Court has voided a conviction in a high-profile case.
On February 22, the court granted a request from prosecutors to throw out the conviction of Ildar Dadin, an activist tried under a controversial antiprotest law who claimed he was tortured in prison.
