MOSCOW, August 1. /TASS/. The Moscow City Court upheld the decision to impose 30 days of administrative arrest on unregistered candidate to the Moscow City Duma, Dmitry Gudkov, who was found guilty of repeated violation of rules for staging a rally on July 14, TASS reported from the courtroom.

"The court rules to leave the decision of Moscow’s Tverskoi District Court as of July 30 unchanged," the judge announced the verdict. Gudkov’s lawyer had asked the Moscow City Court to stop the case in the light of Gudkov’s noninvolvement in the crime he is charged with.

On July 30, Moscow’s Tverskoi Court indicted Gudkov with repeated violation of rally organization rules (Part 8 Section 20.2 of the Russian Administrative Code) and imposed on him 30 days of administrative arrest. A mass unauthorized event took place in central Moscow on July 14. On his Twitter page Gudkov, who voluntarily undertook the functions of the rally organizer, appealed to the general public to join in the march, according to the report on administrative violations against Gudkov.

The lawyer said the administrative case materials lack proof of the fact that the page belongs to Gudkov as "there are several accounts in the social network that belong to Dmitry." The lawyer added that during Gudkov's detention and following the confiscation of his cellphone, posts from third persons appeared on his Twitter page.

About a thousand people took to the streets under the slogan "For obtaining access for independent candidates to the Moscow City Duma election" on July 14. The protesters gathered on Novopushkinsky Square from where they proceeded to Moscow Mayor’s Office and the office of the Moscow City Election Commission on Mokhovaya Street.

Another court hearing on Gudkov’s case is due in the Koptevo District Court on August 23 on the charges of staging a public event without filing a prior notice in the prescribed order (Part 2 Section 20.2 of the Russian Administrative Code). This refers to the post on Gudkov’s Facebook account about the July 27 rally in Moscow.