Man suspected of attacking Navalny testified against detainee in “March 26” case

SERB movement activist Alexander Petrunko, who is suspected for attacking oppositionist leader Alexei Navalny with a brilliant green dye solution, has given testimony against Yury Kuly, reported media outlet Mediazona. Kuly, in turn, has been accused of attacking a policeman during Moscow’s March 26 anti-corruption protests.

“He said that he saw Kuly taking a policeman by the hand, trying to drag him into a crowd of aggressive citizens, and shouting something [along the lines of] ‘let’s grab him,’” said lawyer Alexei Liptser. According to Lipster, another witness not connected with pro-Kremlin movements has also given testimony against Kuly, in addition to Petrunko’s testimony and that of the injured riot policeman.

Yuri Kuliy is one of four defendants accused of attacking law enforcement officers during an anti-corruption protest in Moscow on March 26. For more information about the case of another defendant, Stanislav Zimovets, please click here.

According to Liptser, the policeman in this particular case did not receive any injuries, but identified Kuly as the person “who had grabbed his hand and thereby hurt him.”

SERB activist Alexander Petrunko was identified by Internet users as the man who poured a mixture of brilliant green dye on opposititionist leader Alexey Navalny on April 27. The politician suffered a chemical burn of the eye and had to undergo an operation as a result of the attack.

Activists of the “patriotic” SERB movement appear regularly at opposition rallies and periodically attack civil activists and oppositionists. In 2016, Alexander Petrunko threw a cake at Navalny and poured urine over a photo at the Jock Sturges exhibition.