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The Naro-Fominsk City Court has ordered 75,000 rubles (approximately US$820) in compensation to be paid to lawyer Ruslan Artamonov for unlawful criminal prosecution. This was reported by “Slovo Zashchite” with reference to his wife, Anna Dimitriadi.

The decision was handed down on 4 June. The court partially upheld Artamonov’s claim: he had sought one million rubles (about US$11,000) as compensation for moral damages.

“We filed a claim for a million. But as a rule, courts award sums ranging from 20 to 100 thousand rubles. Of course, it would also be good to get a written or verbal apology from law enforcement, but, as a rule, they refrain from this, so that, heaven forbid, no one in the press or online sees them apologising to anyone,” said Artamonov’s wife.

In spring 2023, the lawyer’s home was searched. Artamonov said that after the search, police officers beat him, broke his ribs, and caused a traumatic brain injury. He linked the incident to his professional work—he had been assisting workers of a bankrupt factory in Oryol, a city south of Moscow, and secured unpaid wages for more than 500 employees.

Artamonov tried to have a criminal case opened against the police officers, but instead, a case was initiated against him. According to his wife, officers threatened the lawyer with arrest if he did not stop demanding punishment for the officers.

In February 2024, a case was opened against the lawyer under the article on hooliganism (Part 2, Article 213 of the Criminal Code). The security forces claimed that someone fired shots from his flat. Three months later, the case was closed due to the absence of a crime, but two weeks later it was reopened. Another month on, the case was again dropped.

In September 2024, the Investigative Committee opened a case against the police officers whom the lawyer accused of beating him. They are accused of abuse of official authority.