5.  The first applicant (Mr Aristov) was born in 1986 and lives in Moscow. The second applicant (Mr Gromov) was born in 1983 and lives in Moscow Region.
6.  The background facts relating to the planning, conduct and dispersal of the demonstration at Bolotnaya Square are set out in more detail in Frumkin v. Russia (no. 74568/12, §§ 7-65, 5 January 2016), and Yaroslav Belousov v. Russia (nos. 2653/13 and 60980/14, §§ 7-33, 4 October 2016). The parties’ submissions on the circumstances directly relevant to the present cases are set out below.
7.  On 6 May 2012 a public demonstration entitled the “March of Millions” was held in central Moscow to protest against the allegedly rigged presidential elections. The event had been approved by the city authorities in the form of a march followed by a meeting at Bolotnaya Square which was supposed to end at 7.30 p.m. The march was peaceful and held without any disruptions, but when the marchers arrived at Bolotnaya Square it became apparent that barriers installed by the police had narrowed the entrance to the meeting venue, allegedly restricting the space allocated for the meeting. To control the crowd, a police cordon forced the protestors to remain within the barriers. There were numerous clashes between the police and protesters. At 5.30 p.m. the police ordered that the meeting finish early and began to disperse the participants. It took them about two hours to clear the protestors from the square.
8.  The applicants took part in the demonstration on 6 May 2012 at Bolotnaya Square. They were arrested at the venue of the event and brought to the police stations where they were charged with administrative offences. After an overnight detention the applicants were brought before the justices of the peace and convicted as charged.
9.  According to the first applicant, during the demonstration he stood at the intersection of Malyy Kamennyy Bridge and Bolotnaya Embankment and filmed the event. At 6 p.m. he was picked out of the crowd and apprehended by the police, though he did not cause any disorder. The applicant did not resist the police officers, who gave no orders during his arrest.
10.  According to the Government, the first applicant was arrested at 6 p.m. at Bolotnaya Square because he had participated in breaking the police cordon and disregarded the police orders to cease his actions.
11.  At 7.20 p.m. the first applicant was brought to Basmannyy district police station in Moscow. At the police station an on-duty officer drew up a record of the applicant’s administrative escort for the purpose of compiling an administrative file. The record of administrative arrest indicated that the applicant had been arrested at 7.20 p.m. at the police station and released on 7 May 2012 at 9.20 a.m.
12.  After that an on-duty officer drew up an administrative-offence record, on the basis of the reports and explanatory notes by police officers P. and Ch., who had arrested the applicant. These reports and notes were drawn up using an identical template and contained no individualised information except the police officers’ personal information and the applicant’s name. The latter was accused of having disobeyed a lawful order of the police, an offence under Article 19.3 § 1 of the Code of Administrative Offences. The administrative-offence record reiterated the police reports, stating as follows:
“... [the applicant], acting as part of a group of 15,000 citizens, took part in an authorised meeting ... chanted slogans ‘Russia without Putin’, ‘Putin is a thief’, and ‘United Russia is a party of crooks and thieves’. During the event [the participants] broke the police cordon and tried to enter Red Square; [the applicant] did not react to the multiple lawful demands of Officers P. and Ch. to stop breaking the police cordon and continued his unlawful acts, in breach of Article 19.3 § 1 of the Code of Administrative Offences.”
13.  On 7 May 2012 the first applicant was brought before the Justice of the Peace of Court Circuit no. 100 of the Yakimanka District of Moscow. The applicant insisted that he had not broken the police cordon and had been arrested by the police with no warnings or orders. He applied to have the two police officers who had arrested him examined as witnesses. This application was rejected in order to expedite the proceedings. The court questioned two witnesses for the defence and examined the video recording submitted by the applicant’s representative.
14.  On the basis of the police officers’ reports and explanations and the records of the administrative escorting and arrest, the court established that the applicant had committed an administrative offence under Article 19.3 § 1 of the Code of Administrative Offences, as described in the administrative-offence record. The court dismissed as unreliable the testimony of defence witnesses, who stated that he had not chanted any slogans in their presence and had not participated in breaking the cordon. As for the video recording, it was dismissed on the grounds that it showed the background of the events in question rather than the applicant’s arrest. Moreover, it did not contain any sound and could not therefore prove whether the applicant had chanted any slogans or not. The court sentenced the applicant to twenty-four hours’ administrative detention.
15.  On 22 May 2012 the Zamoskvoretskiy District Court of Moscow examined the applicant’s appeal against the judgment of 7 May 2012. The applicant repeated his application to summon and question the two police officers who had arrested him on 6 May 2012 but the court rejected it owing to the applicant’s failure to name those officers. At the trial the applicant insisted that he had not chanted any slogans and had not participated in breaking the police cordon. The court questioned two defence witnesses, who confirmed the applicant’s account of events but stated that they had not observed his arrest. Their testimony was dismissed as unreliable because both witnesses were the applicant’s friends. Relying on the reports and written statements of the police officers, the District Court upheld the first‑instance judgment.
16.  According to the second applicant, on 6 May 2012 at 4 p.m. he came to Bolotnaya Square to participate in the authorised demonstration. He could not leave the venue of the event because all the ways out of the square had been cordoned off by the police. The applicant stood in the crowd waiting for further information about the demonstration from its organisers. Around 7.30 p.m. he saw State Duma Deputy Ponomarev with a megaphone and came closer to listen to him together with ten other participants. At that moment a few police officers ran out of the cordon and arrested the deputy and everyone around him, including the applicant.
17.  According to the Government, the second applicant was arrested at 8.10 p.m. at the Bolotnaya Square on 6 May 2012 because he was participating in breaking the police cordon and he had disregarded the police order to cease these acts and disperse.
18.  At 9 p.m. the second applicant was brought to Veshnyaki district police station in Moscow. At the police station an on-duty officer drew up a record of his administrative escort at 9.10 p.m. for the purpose of compiling an administrative-offence record. At 9.20 p.m. the applicant was administratively arrested; according to the record of his administrative arrest he was released on 7 May 2012 at 10.50 a.m.
19.  The second applicant was accused of having disobeyed a lawful order of the police, an offence under Article 19.3 § 1 of the Code of Administrative Offences. The administrative-offence record contained a printed template which stated as follows:
“... [the applicant] disobeyed a lawful order of the police who were fulfilling their service duty of maintaining public order and ensuring safety. In particular, [the police] repeatedly announced through the loudhailer lawful demands to stop the march but [the applicant], acting as part of a group of citizens, broke the [police] cordon. [He] did not react to the multiple demands [of the police] to cease these actions and disperse, and continued his unlawful acts, thereby attracting the attention of the public and mass media. [The applicant] tried to cause confusion among the public (создать суматоху среди граждан), thereby demonstrating his refusal to obey the lawful orders of the police officers and precluding them from fulfilling their service duties, in breach of Article 19.3 § 1 of the Code of Administrative Offences.”
20.  The administrative case file contained two hand-written reports by police officers D. and S., who had arrested the second applicant on 6 May 2012. The reports repeated the description of the applicant’s acts contained in the administrative-offence record.
21.  On 7 May 2012 the second applicant was brought before the Justice of the Peace of Court Circuit no. 100 of the Yakimanka district of Moscow, who adjourned the case to 17 May 2012. On 15 May 2012 the court decided to transfer the case owing to the lack of jurisdiction.
22.  On 14 August 2012 the Justice of the Peace of Court Circuit no. 114 of the Luberetskiy Court District of Moscow Region examined the charges against the second applicant. Upon his application, the court questioned the applicant’s sister who was an eyewitness to his arrest. She confirmed his account of events (see paragraph 16 above) but the court dismissed her statements as unreliable evidence. The court also questioned Officers D. and S., who stated that after the end of the demonstration, at around 8 p.m. on 6 May 2012 the applicant, acting as part of a group of citizens, had broken the police cordon and begun the march towards Red Square. As he had not reacted to multiple demands to stop, he had been arrested together with other participants following the radio communication order.
23.  On the basis of the police officers’ statements and reports the court found the second applicant guilty under Article 19.3 § 1 of CAO and sentenced him to a fine of 700 Russian roubles ((RUB) – about 18 euros (EUR) at the time).
24.  The second applicant appealed against the judgment, pointing out that he had been arrested by riot squad officers rather than by D. and S. On 24 September 2012 the Lyuberetskiy Town Court of the Moscow Region examined the appeal and upheld the judgment of 14 August 2012. The Town Court dismissed the applicant’s allegations and considered that the statements of D. and S. about the applicant’s failure to obey their lawful demands to stop marching after the end of the event had been trustworthy.