Russian Attorney General’s Office seeks tougher restrictions on movement for Lyubov Sobol
The Russian Attorney General’s Office is appealing the sentence handed down to opposition politician Lyubov Sobol in the so-called “Sanitary Case.”
On August 3, Moscow’s Preobrazhensky Court found Sobol guilty of inciting violations of pandemic restrictions during a pro-Navalny protest rally in January 2021. She was sentenced to one and a half years of “restrictions on freedom.” Among other things, the court banned her from traveling outside of Moscow and the Moscow region without the approval of a specialized government agency.
On August 13, the Preobrazhensky Court’s press service told Interfax that the Attorney General’s Office is seeking a harsher sentence, which would ban Sobol from traveling outside of the capital. In other words, as the court’s spokespeople explained, the Attorney General’s Office wants to amend the verdict to exclude travel within the territory of the Moscow region.
However, according to reports that emerged over the weekend, Lyubov Sobol may have already fled the country. On August 8, an unnamed source told Interfax that Sobol had allegedly left Russia for Istanbul. Sobol has yet to comment on these reports.
The Sanitary Case
State investigators launched the “Sanitary Case” in January 2021, accusing ten of Alexey Navalny’s associates of inciting violations of pandemic restrictions in connection with a pro-Navalny rally that took place in Moscow on January 23. According to the investigation, the defendants in the case called for people to attend rally, thereby provoking violations of sanitary and epidemiological rules.