This story started on November 13, 2012, the seventh anniversary of the murder of antifascist Timur Kacharava by neo-Nazis in Saint Petersburg. The scene of the murder in front of a bookstore on Vosstaniya square each year becomes a meeting point for friends and relatives of Timur, his comrades in antifascist struggle, all those opposed to right-wing extremism, people who are concerned about racism and xenophobia. On that day three activists requested permission for a picket from local authorities and about 15 persons participated in it. People kept coming, brought flowers to the place where Timur was killed, met each other and the journalists that were present, held a banner and handed out leaflets. Nothing was troublesome, probably with the exception of the police that was present. Police colonel Martynov, a tall and heavy guy, called me to talk several times: he was extremely worried by the \u201clarge number of people\u201d who came to the picket and kept on giving various orders \u2013 to get people off the pedestrian walk, to call on them to disperse in order not to create obstacles for passers-by, etc. But all of these orders and recommendations could not concern the picketers \u2013 the 15 persons that stood in front of the bookstore until the picket ended (with my arrest). As soon as the picketing time was over Martynov called me in order \u201cto explain something\u201d to me. But instead of explanations, two policemen forced me into their car and brought me to police station.<\/p>\n
There, in the police station, a protocol was filed, which read that I had \u201cviolated the norms of maximal density\u201d of people on a certain territory and \u201cthe allowed number of participants of the picket\u201d. Policemen were absolutely sure that the picketers were one and the same with all the people who came to lay flowers, came completely out of their free will and even with no connection to the picket. I was charged with violation of Article 20.2 of the Code of administrative violations based on the fact that the picket which I had organized \u201chad a big public resonance\u201d and the number of participants of the picket was over 15 persons.<\/p>\n
The unreasonable nature of these \u201cgrounds\u201d became obvious when we came to the Justice of Peace of 210th<\/sup> district. Policemen Yermakov and Kulikov, who had arrested me, couldn\u2019t agree on the number of people who, according to them, participated in the picket or the description of how these people supposedly created obstacles to passers-by or how I was to blame for any of this. All that the policemen were able to agree on was the following: not more than 15 persons had stood there and held banners, the rest of the persons that had been present, simply had come, laid flowers and left the place, these people hadn\u2019t stood there and possessed no threat to the passers-by and there had been no complaints concerning our activities there. Policemen even testified that the event \u201cproceeded in a peaceful way\u201d. The witnesses that testified before the judge also confirmed that they had not been acquainted with the organizers of the picket and had come to the place on their own account in order to pay tribute to the murdered antifascist.