Russian investigators drop rioting charges against five demonstrators and want another two suspects transferred to house arrest

Russia’s Investigative Committee has dropped its rioting charges against five suspects in the so-called “Moscow Case” against demonstrators who attended recent unpermitted opposition rallies. Officials have closed the cases against Sergey Abanichev, Daniil Konon, Valery Kostenyok, Vladislav Barabanov, and Dmitry Vasiliev. All five men could still be charged with misdemeanor offenses, however.

One of these suspects — Valery Kostenyok — had even confessed to the rioting charges during his interrogation.

State investigators have also requested the transfer of another two “Moscow Case” suspects — Egor Zhukov and Sergey Fomin — from pretrial detention centers to house arrest.