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| Ildar Dadin: Russian activist jail term quashed | Ildar Dadin: Russian activist jail term quashed |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Russia's Supreme Court has ordered the release of opposition activist Ildar Dadin, who was the first person to be convicted under new laws on protests. | Russia's Supreme Court has ordered the release of opposition activist Ildar Dadin, who was the first person to be convicted under new laws on protests. |
| The court said the criminal case against him should be dismissed and he had a "right to rehabilitation", Russian media report. | The court said the criminal case against him should be dismissed and he had a "right to rehabilitation", Russian media report. |
| Mr Dadin, jailed in December 2015, has been serving two-and-a-half years for a series of protests. | |
| Last November he said he was tortured in prison in north-west Russia. | |
| The authorities denied the claims, but transferred him to another prison. | |
| Wednesday's court ruling came after Russia's constitutional court earlier this month concluded that Mr Dadin's case needed to be reviewed. | |
| Court protest | |
| Mr Dadin was convicted under a new law - Article 212.1 - which made repeated violations of Russia's strict protest rules a crime. | |
| He was originally jailed for three years - though the sentence was later reduced - for a series of peaceful protests, which often involved standing silently in the street with a sign. | |
| Earlier this month, the constitutional court ruled that Article 212.1 should not be applied in cases where protests did not constitute a threat and sent it for review to the Supreme Court. | |
| Mr Dadin appeared on a video link for Wednesday's proceedings and lay his head on a desk in protest at being refused permission to travel to the court in person, reports the BBC's Sarah Rainsford from the hearing. | |
| His wife Anastasia cheered the court's ruling. She told the BBC she was very happy and hoped the controversial law used to imprison her husband would never be used again. | |
| What is Article 212.1? | |
| Read more:Protesting in Putin's Russia |