Now the Moscow Metro is suing opposition leaders, too

Moscow’s subway system has filed a lawsuit against several opposition leaders who are already defendants in other civil cases brought by other public transport companies because of service disruptions allegedly caused by protests on July 27. “Agora” human rights group head Pavel Chikov first reported the case record on the Koptevsky District Court’s website.

It’s still unclear how much the subway system is claiming in damages, or what the actual nature of its claims against the oppositionists are.

Anti-Corruption Foundation Press Secretary Kira Yamysh noted on Twitter that a restaurant called “Armenia” has filed a similar lawsuit for 550,000 rubles ($8,365), claiming that it lost money when it was forced to close for business on the day of the protest. Also on Twitter, oppositionist Georgy Alburov pointed out that the Armenia’s lawsuit lists his current address as Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev’s personal residence, which is the address Alburov gave when he was arraigned in court. “Except for the judge, nobody got this address from me. This suggests a single organizer behind the lawsuits,” Alburov said.

On August 16, the state-owned bus company Mosgortrans filed a 1.2-million-ruble ($18,050) lawsuit against several prominent opposition activists, in connection with service disruptions allegedly caused by protests on July 27. The municipal enterprise “Auto-Roads” has also filed a separate lawsuit for 11.5 million rubles ($172,960).