On Monday, July 20, Anna Pavlikova, one of the defendants in the controversial “Novoe Velichie” (New Greatness) extremism case, filed a five-million-ruble ($70,550) lawsuit against the Russian state for illegally holding her in pre-trial detention in 2018.
“The illegality of my client’s arrest was recognized by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, and subsequently, by the Moscow City Court. She was a minor at the time of imprisonment and she had a lot of very serious chronic illnesses. After the pre-trial detention center, many of them became worse,” stated Pavlikova’s lawyer, Olga Karlova.
Anna Pavlikova was held in a pre-trial detention center between March and August 2018, after which she was transferred to house arrest.
During the most recent hearing of the “New Greatness” case on July 14, the prosecution requested a four years probation sentence for Pavlikova on charges of involvement in organizing an illegal extremist group.
Read more about the ‘New Greatness’ Case
The ‘New Greatness’ Case
In 2018, ten activists from the so-called “Novoe Velichie” (New Greatness) movement were accused of organizing an illegal extremist group. Investigators believe they were plotting to “overthrow Russia’s constitutional order,” using leaflets and Telegram chat messages. The movement emerged from a group of like-minded individuals hanging out at the same McDonald’s. The suspects’ parents accuse the police of framing their children for crimes they didn’t commit, and sources have told reporters that an undercover police officer was embedded inside the organization. The New Greatness case was opened