The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) communicated a complaint of Cheboksary resident Dmitry Karuev, who spat on the portrait of President Vladimir Putin on May 6, 2012. European judges asked the Russian authorities why they had to bring Karuev to administrative responsibility.
Chuvash human rights activist Alexey Glukhov, who represents Karuev’s interests in Strasbourg, assessed prospects of the case optimistically:
"It is important that the European judges asked Russia not for reasons of severity of punishment, but why Karuev was brought to justice. In their opinion, the Russian authorities should not have violated the citizen's freedom to express opinion."
According to him, in 2012 his client got an administrative case of petty hooliganism and was arrested for 15 days. "At the same time, these actions showed obvious disrespect to the society that elected the head of its state — President Putin V.V.," the human rights activist quotes Karuev's indictment.
Dmitry Karuev spat on Putin's portrait on May 6, 2012 near the office of "United Russia" during the action of "Other Russia" in Cheboksary. The activists brought a portrait of Putin to the office of the ruling party, tied it with black ribbons and put a glass of vodka. On this day, the opposition across the country held protests on the eve of the inauguration ceremony of Vladimir Putin. Karuev filed a complaint to the ECHR after the Cheboksary magistrate courts aligned with the police.
Daniil Kuznetsov, «7x7»
