MOSCOW, October 23 (RAPSI) – The Moscow City Court has ruled that an extension of the house arrest of Sergey Fomin, a defendant in the 27 July Moscow riots case, until January 8 was lawful, RAPSI reports from the courtroom on Wednesday.

Earlier, Moscow’s Basmanny District Court extended house arrest of Fomin, a volunteer of the office of Lyubov Sobol, a might have been candidate for the city Duma deputy, who had been denied registration, on charges of taking part in mass riots.

According to investigators, the defendant’s involvement in the riots has been proven by the results of investigative activities including outside CCTV footage and inspection reports of Internet resources.

However, Fomin pleads not guilty.

Unauthorized rallies in support of candidates seeking to become lawmakers of the Moscow State Duma but refused registration by the Election Commission were held on July 27 and August 3 in central Moscow. Over 1,000 people were arrested for various violations as a result.

After the 27 July rally, the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case over mass riots. Investigators believe that the protest action was held with the use of force against representatives of authority.

Several opposition figures including Alexey Navalny, Dmitry Gudkov, Ilya Yashin were arrested and put in detention for alleged organization of an unauthorized rally.