Young actor gets 3.5 years for injuring police officer during Moscow protests

Up-and-coming actor Pavel Ustinov was handed a 3.5-year sentence for resisting arrest and wounding a police officer during an unauthorized anti-government rally in Moscow on August 3. The man denies any wrongdoing.

Prosecutors initially sought six years in jail for the defendant, saying his actions resulted in humiliation, moral suffering, and physical trauma for the police officer.

Ustinov was accused of shouting obscenities at police during the rally and violently resisting arrest.

The officer who was injured told the court that he had to spend more than 20 days in the hospital with a dislocated shoulder after the incident.

During the trial, Ustinov maintained his innocence and said he wasn’t even taking part in the protests, but was waiting for a friend outside a subway station. The actor’s legal team plans to appeal the ruling.

More than 2,000 people were arrested during a series of unauthorized protests which took place in Moscow in late July and early August in support of opposition candidates who were barred from the Moscow City Council election over paperwork irregularities.

The majority of those detained escaped with small fines, but five people received time in jail for violent actions against police.

Ustinov graduated from acting school a few years ago and has appeared in minor TV roles, as well as starring in the upcoming sci-fi movie ‘Passazhir’ (Passenger).

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