Moscow City Court on Friday ruled to release actor Pavel Ustinov on his own recognizance not to leave the city, changing the measure of restraint for him.
Earlier, the court said it will on 26 September look into the legitimacy of a 3.5-year prison sentence for Pavel Ustinov convicted over a sprained shoulder of a security officer at an unauthorised rally in the Russian capital.
"The appeal hearing on an appeal complaint and the request is scheduled for Thursday, 26 September, 10 a.m. [local time, 7:00 GMT]," the court's spokeswoman Uliana Solopova said.
Later on Friday, the court will consider the prosecutor's request to release Ustinov from pre-trial detention until the appeal hearing.
The detained actor, in his turn, addressed the judge, saying that he does not intend to hide from the court.
Meanwhile, the prosecutor said that the Federal National Guard Troops Service had given a positive assessment of Ustinov, who once served as a guard in the service himself.
The Kremlin reacted to the news of Ustinov's release by saying that Moscow does not see any need to change anything at the prosecutors' officer due to their change of stance on Ustinov's case.
On Monday, Moscow City Court sentenced Ustinov to 3.5 years for violence against riot police officer Alexander Lyagin at an unauthorised rally in Moscow on 3 August. Ustinov reportedly sprained Lyagin's shoulder while the latter was trying to detain the actor over a “disturbance of public order”. Ustinov pleaded not guilty.
A wave of unauthorised protests in Moscow began in mid-July following the authorities barring opposition figures from participating in the 8 September election after they failed to gather a sufficient number of signatures of support.
Amid the unauthorised protests, the Moscow government gave the green light for two rallies with 100,000 people registered to attend. According to police figures, about 20,000 people attended the rallies, while the organisers claimed that some 50,000 protesters attended the events.
