MOSCOW, April 8 (RAPSI) – Moscow’s Simonovsky District Court will continue hearing a lawsuit filed by the Interior Ministry seeking to recover over 10 million rubles ($132,000 at the current exchange rate) from the organizers of the unauthorized summer rallies on April 15, RAPSI has learnt in the court.

The police seek to collect about 4.2 million rubles spent to enhance security during the rally held in Moscow on July 27 from Alexey Navalny, Ilya Yashin, Lyubov Sobol, Vladimir Milov, Georgy Alburov, Alexander Solovyev and Oleg Stepanov.

Another 6-million-ruble claim is filed against Sobol and Alburov as organizers of the August 3 rally. According to the plaintiff, the said funds were spent for security upgrade during the illegal rally in central Moscow and purchase of combustive and lubricating materials for police. The defendants object to the claim believing that its amount is excessive and unproven.

Protest actions began in Moscow in mid-July after election commissions denied registration of certain opposition members as candidates for the Moscow City Duma elections reasoning that documents submitted by them contained numerous violations.

The first unauthorized rally took place hear the Moscow City Election Commission’s building on July 14 and looked like a provocation, according to law experts.

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