Darya Polyudova questions testimonies of prosecution witnesses

Officials from the Novorossiysk administration have reported to the court on the picket held by Darya Polyudova and on the activist's calls for the overthrow of the constitutional order in Russia. Darya Polyudova insists that the officials from the city administration could not see her and that she did not have enough time to hold the picket.

Today, during the court session, the court has examined the testimonies for the prosecution and the defence and read out the written testimonies given by witnesses, who had not been questioned earlier, Darya Polyudova told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

According to Darya Polyudova, the courts questioned the officials from the Novorossiysk administration. According to investigators, they saw Darya Polyudova "holding picket near the city administration" and "calling for the overthrow of the constitutional order in Russia."

"However, no picket took place. I have not enough time even to unfold posters with slogans. Nobody could see me holding a picket," Darya Polyudova states.

The activist has noted that FSB investigator Georgy Kotenko, who investigated the criminal case, failed to attend the court session.

According to advocate Alexander Popkov, Darya Polyudova became the first defendant accused under "separatist" article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for "calls for actions aimed at violation of the territorial integrity of Russia" (Article 280.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The advocate does not rule out the possibility that the court may fine the activist under Article "public calls for extremist activities."

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.