A lawyer for Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov has requested Moscow's judicial panel to strip Judge Olga Borovkova of powers over a 'chair incident.'
Nemtsov was arrested after an anti-Kremlin rally on Moscow's Triumfalnaya Square on New Year's Eve and sentenced to 15 days in jail for "disobeying police instructions."
The former deputy prime minister turned opposition leader claimed he stood all day long on January 2 during his hearing in Moscow's Tverskoy Court because Judge Borovkova refused to give him a chair.
The judge has dismissed the claims saying Nemtsov had ignored the offer and chose to stand for the court hearing. "This was his own decision. The court has no right to force defendants to sit on chairs," a court spokesman said.
"The judge's unjustified treatment of the applicant signals that there was an additional pressure on the latter," lawyer Vadim Prokhorov said in the complaint.
The lawyer has also blamed the judge for refusing Nemtsov the right to appeal his arrest 'in due time.' The appeal was considered by the court only 10 days after his arrest, when the New Year holidays ended in Russia.
MOSCOW, February 13 (RIA Novosti)
