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Judge Extends Bolotnaya Case Detentions Until February

Pickets on Krasnopresnenskaya in support of the Bolotnaya case defendants. Sergey Porter

A Moscow city judge has ruled to extend the detention of nine defendants in the ongoing Bolotnoye case for an additional three months, the defendants' lawyers said.

Two other defendants' house arrests and a third's travel restrictions were also extended until Feb. 24.

Judge Natalya Nikishina granted the prosecution's petition for extensions on Tuesday despite the defense's claims that they violate principles established by the European Court of Human Rights, BBC Russia reported.

Meanwhile, defendant Sergei Krivov, who has been on hunger strike for over two months, has not been allowed to see a doctor despite his visibly worsening condition, his lawyer Vyacheslav Makarov said.

"Sergei is standing, putting on a brave face, saying that he is alright, but he is completely yellow and we are all afraid that there's a problem with his liver," Makarov told Interfax on Tuesday.

Human rights ombudsman Vladimir Lukin ordered a telegram sent to the Federal Prison Service expressing his concern over Krivov's condition, human rights activist Lev Ponomaryov told journalists Wednesday.

Makarov called medics to the courtroom twice this week — first when Krivov began to feel poorly during a Monday session and again when he fainted on Tuesday ­— but Nikishina denied them entrance both times on the grounds that only the court has the right to summon medical assistance.

Krivov began his hunger strike on Sept. 19 to protest legal infractions in the proceedings against him. He alleges that the judge does not accept defendants' petitions and that court records are delivered after month-long delays.

The majority of the 12 defendants, including Krivov, face from eight to 13 years imprisonment on charges of rioting and attacking police officers during an opposition protest at Bolotnaya Ploshchad on May 6, 2012.

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